bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Psychological adaptation of recovered individuals with COVID-19: A phenomenological approach
Authors: Hamdan-Mansour A. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionHealthcare services are primarily focusing on medical and physical treatment of COVID-19 while psychosocial and mental health needs are not considered a priority.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to explore how recovered individuals with COVID-19 adapted to their psychological and social stressors during infection period.MethodsA descriptive phenomenological approach conducted using a purposeful sample of 13 individuals recovered from COVID-19 in Jordan. Data collected using unstructured interviews.ResultsPerception of being diagnosed with COVID-19 revealed to three major themes; positive learning (acceptance, avoiding social pressure, and normalizing), tolerating ambiguity (denial and seeking information and guidance), and resilience (caring family, professionals’ support, self-grieving, optimism, positive thinking, and spirituality).ConclusionsThe study indicates that there is a need to integrate psychosocial and mental health care services into healthcare plans provided to individuals with COVID-19.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Prenatal Exposure to SARS-Cov-2 and Schizophrenia Development: What to Expect?
Authors: Tavares F. , Viseu M. , Barbosa Pinto M. , Solana C. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionSchizophrenia is a complex and multifactorial psychiatric condition characterized by thought, speech, perception and behaviour disorders, and social and occupational impairment. It has been related that viral prenatal infection may contribute to schizophrenia development. As such, there are some hypotheses regarding SARS-Cov-2 prenatal infection and its potential relation with “future” offspring schizophrenia.ObjectivesLiterature review of schizophrenia development and relation with viral infections, and data research of COVID-19 neurotropic effects.MethodsNon-systematic review through literature using databases as Pubmed and UpToDate. Keywords used: schizophrenia, prenatal, viral infection, COVID-19, SARS-Cov-2.ResultsSeveral studies had shown a relationship between prenatal viral infections, such as Influenza, and development of schizophrenia in the offspring. It relates with viral neurotropism mechanisms and inflammatory processes in the fetal neurology system. Regarding SARS-Cov-2, it is early to assume a relation between prenatal COVID-19 and offspring schizophrenia development. However, literature describes psychiatric manifestations post COVID, such as psychotic and manic episodes. As such, a SARS-Cov-2 neurotropic effect is demonstrated.ConclusionsSchizophrenia has a multifactorial etiology. Since prenatal viral infections may interfere and contribute to schizophrenia development, it is logical to assume prenatal SARS-Cov-2 infection may also contribute. It may be relevant to investigate whether these offspring will manifest schizophrenia symptoms.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
The Developing Brain and Emotion Regulation - Implications for Psychopathology
Authors: Nosarti C. 
Published: September 2022

In this talk I will describe a series of studies conducted at the Centre for the Developing Brain, King’s College London, that seek to increase our understanding of why infants who are born very early (before 32 weeks’ gestation) are more likely to develop socio-emotional problems when they grow up compared to infants who are born at term. As part of the Evaluation of Preterm Imaging study we carried out multimodal MRI at term in over 200 newborns and studied whether we could identify specific patterns of brain development in those infants who might develop problems with emotion regulation and general mental health as they grow-up. At the behavioural level, we found that very preterm children compared to term-born controls had more mental health problems, including anxiety and autism-spectrum behaviours. Preterm children had lower IQ, were less able to regulate their emotions and inhibit unwanted behaviours. Children’s tendency to attribute negative emotions to daily events, which could lead to increased anxiety, was associated with two main neonatal brain features. These were: 1) weaker structural connectivity in a long-range white matter projection tract called the uncinate fasciculus which connects the frontal lobe with the anterior temporal lobe and 2) altered fronto-limbic functional connectivity, both of which play a critical role in several aspects of social and emotional development. These findings show that early brain changes can be used to predict children’s social and emotional outcomes, hence could be used to inform preventative interventions aimed at averting and targeting emerging emotional disorders.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
How are medical schools supporting student’s mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Authors: Howard R. , Selwyn V. , Beezhold J. , Henderson N. , Gilmore R. , Bartolome I. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has impacted medical students in many ways. They are not exempt from personal struggles caused by the health crisis, and many have faced similar challenges adapting to a new learning experience. The University of East Anglia (UEA) has initiatives in place to support medical students including the society Headucate UEA and the Wellbeing Champions scheme established by Norwich Medical School (NMS).ObjectivesHeaducate aims to improve mental wellbeing by educational online webinars and social events aimed at university students. NMS Wellbeing Champions offer support and signpost students to resources and the wider student support system at the UEA.MethodsHeaducate was established in 2012 by NMS students that began running workshops at local secondary schools. Their work has expanded to include wellbeing workshops, social events for students and mental health first aid training, so members can provide peer support. Wellbeing Champions are medical student representatives responsible for completing mental health first aid training, communication between students and faculty, providing resources and signposting, creating mental health bulletin newsletters, and running socials exclusively for medical students.Results100% of Headucate workshop attendees who completed anonymous feedback agreed that they enjoyed it and that it was useful. No feedback has been collected regarding the success of the Wellbeing Champions. This should be carried out to assess and enhance the project further.ConclusionsMore data is needed to establish the success of the initiatives at NMS and their impact on medical student’s wellbeing.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals almost two years after the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic
Authors: Solis M. , Jurado Arevalo A. , Blánquez Garcia E. 
Published: September 2022

Introduction

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major sanitary crisis worldwide. Frontline healthcare workers face many difficulties, such as: direct exposure to patients with high viral load, physical exhaustion, reorganization of workspaces, face the unusually high number of deaths among patients, colleagues or relatives and ethical issues in a tense health system.ObjectivesProvide up-to-date information of Burnout syndrome associated with exposure of healthcare workers to the COVID-19 pandemic, after almost 20 months of the declaration of pandemic by the World Health Organization.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out that included 84 healthcare workers from Spain in October 2021, through an anonymous, voluntary and multiple response type online survey which included questions about sociodemographic aspects and the Maslach burnout inventoryResults
62% were doctors and 29% were nurses. 70% work on the front line of Covid-19. 38% report not having been able to enjoy their vacations when they wanted. 8% admit to having had suicidal ideas. Almost 52% admit low personal fulfillment, 38.6% admit a high depersonalization count, and 45% report high emotional exhaustion. Of the total sample, 17 respondents have burnout syndrome.ConclusionsIt is necessary create strategies to promote mental well-being in health professionals exposed to COVID-19 after 20 months of active work. Protecting and identifying health care professionals who could be at high risk for developing a mental health pathology or detecting Burnout syndrome in them should be the priority of public health post pandemic.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Psychiatric Admissions, Referrals, and Suicidal Behavior Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Denmark: A Time-Trend Study
Authors: Rømer T. , Christensen R. , Blomberg S. , Folke F. , Christensen H. , Benros M. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected mental health globally, but the impact on referrals and admissions to mental health services remains understudied.ObjectivesTo assess patterns in psychiatric admissions, referrals, and suicidal behavior before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark.MethodsUtilizing hospital and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) health records covering 46% of the Danish population, we compared psychiatric in-patients, referrals to mental health services and suicidal behavior in years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to levels during the first lockdown (March 11 – May 17, 2020), inter-lockdown period (May 18 – December 15, 2020), and second lockdown (December 16, 2020 – February 28, 2021) using negative binomial models.ResultsThe rate of psychiatric in-patients declined compared to pre-pandemic levels (RR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.94 – 0.96, p < 0.01). Referrals were not significantly different (RR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.92 – 1.10, p = 0.91) during the pandemic; neither was suicidal behavior among hospital contacts (RR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.94 – 1.14, p = 0.48) nor EMS contacts (RR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.00 – 1.18, p = 0.06). In the age group <18, an increase in the rate of psychiatric in-patients (RR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.07 – 1.15, p < 0.01) was observed during the pandemic; however, this did not exceed the pre-pandemic, upwards trend in psychiatric hospitalizations in the age group <18 (p = 0.78).ConclusionsThe pandemic was associated with a decrease in psychiatric hospitalizations. No significant change was observed in referrals and suicidal behavior.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Mental Health in the Consorci Sanitari del Maresme workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A descriptive cross sectional study
Authors: González-Campos M. , Brugué González O. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionThe global health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has put healthcare professionals in an unprecedented challenge, considering them extremely at risk population.ObjectivesTo estimate the prevalence of clinically significant mental disorders and to assess associated factors among Consorci Sanitari del Maresme workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe made a descriptive cross-sectional study. All workers were invited to participate in an online survey during May 2021. Individual characteristics and frequency of direct exposure to COVID during professional activity were assessed. We used three Spanish versions of psychometric scales: the Patient Health Questionnaire to evaluate depressive symptomatology, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, which detects anxiety, and the 4-item version of the PTSD checklist for DSM-5 for PTSD screening purposes. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used to analyze the data.Results

A total of 355 workers participated. Overall, 31% met the criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (PHQ-9> 9), 36% for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7> 9) and 22% for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PCL-5> 7). It has been found that young adult, women, those with prior mental disorders or those with greater exposure to COVID-19 are risk factors for any current mental disorder.ConclusionsThere are large mental healthcare needs among healthcare professionals. There is a clear need to closely monitor the extent to which these needs are adequately met. In the design of measures and interventions to reduce this impact, an individualized approach should be considered while taking into account sociodemographic variables, psychiatric history and the frequency of direct exposure to COVID-19.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Covid -19 pandemic‘s impact on the clinical presentation of brief psychotic disorders
Authors: Khouadja S. , Najjar C. , Brigui Y. , Arbi A. , Younes S. , Zarrouk L. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionA major increase in mental health issues was noted since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic even in patients with no history of mental health illness, specifically brief psychotic disorders.ObjectivesEstablish the covid-19 pandemic circumstances as precipitating factors of psychosis independently from other stressorsMethodsThis is a cross-sectional and descriptive study carried out in the psychiatric department of the University Hospital of Mahdia including two groups of patients over a period of 15 months: From October 2018 to December 2019 are pre-covid cases, and the second group consists of the ones admitted between June 2020 and August 2021. We have collected the data of patients diagnosed with brief psychotic disorder according to DSM-5. We have focused on two clinical characteristics of the psychotic episodes (theme of delusions, stressors).ResultsWe have collected 19 patients, 12 among them during the pre-covid period. In our pre-covid period, brief psychotic disorder presented mostly with marked stressors (33.3%) whilst in the middle of the pandemic, marked stressors are present in only 14.3% of the cases. Which could suggest that this state of alarm can singlehandedly trigger psychosis. For the theme of delusions, in the pre-covid period, the religious theme appeared to be the most frequent (58.3%), whilst during the pandemic, persecution became the most prevalent (71.4%), showing how living in fear of contracting the virus could manifest itself in delusional content.ConclusionsLiving in a prolonged state of alarm is, in itself, a marked stressor, theoretically capable of increasing the psychosis rate and altering its characteristics.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Study of mental health of medical staff in a specialized hospital for COVID-19 in Novi Sad
Authors: Kuljancic D. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionThe highly infectious novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and soon became a global pandemic. COVID-19 is escalating medical staff psychological stress and creating an increasingly heavy professional burden. Fear of transmitting the virus to family, community perception of frontline workers as potential disease carriers, extreme workloads and moral dilemmas add additional stressors. In Novi Sad Clinical Centre of Vojvodina (CCV) for the past 2 years there has been a continuous struggle against the COVID-19 crisis. Both senior specialist doctors and newly hired young doctors, some without work experience, were hired immediately after completing their studies.ObjectivesTo investigate the mental health of clinical first-line medical staff in COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study involving CCV staff who worked in the first line of patient treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were given a self-administered questionnaire which included information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics and the validated Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Impact of Events Scale–Revised (IES-R) instrument. A total of 190 medical workers were involved.ResultsSixty-two (32,6%) participants screened positive for anxiety, 38 (20%) for depression, 68 (35,8%) for stress, and 22 (11,5%) for clinical concern of PTSD. The most endangered are young nurses and doctors with less than 6 months of previous work experience.ConclusionsIn conclusion, our results suggest frontline medical staff involved in treatment of COVID-19 patients should be closely monitored as a high-risk group for depression and anxiety, and given proper training before deployment.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Prevalence of vaccination against the Covid19 within mentally ill population and acceptance and hesitancy factors
Authors: Makni K. , Zouari L. , Feki R. , Smaoui N. , Omri S. , Gassara I. , Maalej M. , Ben Thabet J. , Charfi N. , Maalej M. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionVaccines are effective interventions that can reduce the high burden of COVID19 globally. However, public vaccine hesitancy is a pressing problem for public health authorities.ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the prevalence of vaccination within mentally ill population and to point out the factors of acceptance and reticence.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study. It was carried out on a clinical population who consult in the psychiatry department in Sfax’s university hospital Hedi Chaker. Patients included in our study were aged between 21 and 69 years and were not in a decompensation phase of their psychiatric illnessResultsForty five patients were included. The mean age was 45±13 years old. Our population was made up of 3 women (6.7%) and 42 men (93.3%).A rate of 42.2% of the patients was of urban origin, 15.6% lived with a partner, 77.8% were unemployed and 46.7% were schizophrenic. In our study population, five patients had COVID 19 (11.1%), fourteen patients (31.1%) were vaccinated and eight patients (17.8%) asked their psychiatrist to vaccine. The main reasons of vaccination were their belief that vaccination decreases the chance of contracting COVID 19 and its complications (0.00) ,that COVID is lethal (0.002), and the fact that they trust it (0.001). Thirtyone patients (68.9%) refused vaccination, mainly due to reading or hearing negative information about vaccination (0.025). Vaccination wasn’t correlated neither to the fact that it could be a conspiracy nor to the diagnostic.ConclusionsOur study reveals that one third of mentally ill patients are vaccinated. The reasons of acceptance of vaccination are multiple in opposite of the hesitancy factorsDisclosureNo significant relationships.
Promoting physical activity among university students with a co-constructed program during Covid-19 pandemic
Authors: Goncalves A. , Deshayes M. , Bernal C. , Korchi K. , Nogrette M. , Gisclard B. , Charbonnier E. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionSince the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, sanitary context and e-learning has greatly modified students’ lifestyles. An increase of sedentary behaviors, a reduction in physical activity (PA) and a stronger tendency to move towards unhealthy diet have been demonstrated. Most of the research is largely descriptive and to date, no interventional studies have been conducted to prevent the deterioration of students’ health.ObjectivesThe objective of the present research aims to evaluate the effects of an intervention program on the lifestyle and psychological state of student. Its primary objective is to promote PA among students, to improve both physical condition and motivation to engage in physical activity for one’s health by promoting motivational levers. Its second objective is to reduce and/or prevent the deterioration of the health of university students.MethodsStudents from University of Nîmes were recruited and randomly assigned to one of the two following conditions: an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group participated to an 8-weeks program of PA (co-constructed by users during design-based innovative workshops) whereas the control group did not. For each group, measures of PA, sedentary time, anthropometric data, sleep, physical condition and psychological variables (anxiety, depression, motivation, body appreciation, perceived control, well-being, …) were carried out before (T1: october 2021) and after (T2: December 2021) these 8-weeks in order to evaluate the benefits from the PA program.ResultsThese assessments were performed in October 2021 (T1) and December 2021 (T2).ConclusionsData are still being collected and will be presented in April 2022.DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Suicide in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Wasserman D. 
Published: September 2022

A literature search using PubMed and Google Scholar identified 64 articles assessing suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison with the pre-pandemic period in the six WHO regions of the world. Most studies come from high- and middle-income countries. There is a scarcity of data from South America, and no studies from the African and East-Mediterranean Regions. Compared to trends in previous years, suicide rates remained largely unchanged globally or declined in the early phase of the pandemic. However, increased suicide rates were reported among non-white residents and Afro - American groups in the US, as well as among adolescents in China. Japan and India showed a statistically significant increase in suicide rates after an initial decline. Similarly in Peru, after an initial decline, suicide rates increased among men during the course of the pandemic. This is in line with previous findings in the context of natural disasters and other epidemics where a similar increased suicide trend can be expected in the post-pandemic period in other countries. Among adolescents, there were no significant changes in suicide rates during the period of school closure, but an increase has been observed in the period after coming back to schools. The assessment of suicidal thoughts and attempts during the pandemic was mostly conducted through online cross-sectional surveys and showed significant increases, particularly in females and the young. Suicide can be prevented if evidence-based methods that exist are implemented in a systematic way (Wasserman et al. 2020; https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20801).DisclosureNo significant relationships.
Mental health of healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic: Analysis of the psychological problems faced by the healthcare workers over a period of three months during Covid-19 pandemic
Authors: Spirkoska L. , Simonovska M. , Jankuloska O. , Ivceva N. , Olumcev N. 
Published: September 2022

IntroductionSARS-COV 2 virus and the disease caused by the virus is a challenge for the healthcare workers since the beggining of the Covid-19 pandemic. Working with huge number of patient who need hospital care at the same time but also having scare information about the virus resulted with physical exhaustion, increased workload and mostly fear among the healthcare workers.ObjectivesThe purpose of the study was to expand our knowledge about the mental health of the healthcare workers and explore most common psychological problems they faced during the Covid-19 pandemic over a period of three month.MethodsAll participants in the study work in the same public hospital in Skopje, North Macedonia in one of the following job positions: physicians, nurses, paramedics, and hygienists. They anonymously filled out a google form answering questions about their mental health. Questions in the form were created based on Beck Depression Scale and the GAD-7 Scale for Anxiety along with questions about the gender, age, and job position.ResultsThe results we gained from this study are showing that the participants experienced insomnia, reduced concentration, intense feelings of restlessness and fatigue, less energy and mostly lack of job satisfaction.ConclusionsThose symptoms indicates that healthcare workers developed anxiety and depression while working with patient infected by the SARS-COV 2 virus.DisclosureNo significant relationships.