School-Based Mind–Body Interventions: A Research Review

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian primary school children's learning: A systematic review through a psycho-social lens

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected many areas and contexts of today's society, including school and family. Several studies focused on the worldwide effects of school closures on students' learning outcomes, context, and well-being. However, the data emerging from these studies are often inconsistent and fragmentary, highlighting the need of a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon. This need is especially urgent for the countries with the most severe school closure, like Italy. This systematic review aims to collect the opinions of parents, teachers, and students on: other dimensions of Italian primary school students affected by school closures, beyond academic performance; hypothetical agreement between the opinions of parents, teachers, and students regarding the different effects of school closures on Italian primary school students; possible differences between the effects of school closures on Italian primary school students and the students in other countries. Our search was conducted using PRISMA 2020 guidelines on Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus, and EBSCOHost. The results obtained from 34 articles revealed a strong concern on the part of all stakeholders involved in learning during the pandemic, with evident negative effects for Italian school students. The constraint on distance learning led to a drastic change in everyone's routine, and a negative emotional change on the part of young students. Parents and teachers generally considered distance learning to be ineffective for the education of their children and students; they encountered technical-practical difficulties in the use of electronic devices for participation in school activities; overall learning deficits on the part of students, especially in mathematics, as confirmed by INVALSI results were also found. The investigation reveals a condition of shared emotional and academic performance difficulty, and a further challenging circumstance for students previously at risk of marginalization. Further research in this field is paramount to identify new and adequate recovery strategies.

Mental Health Risk and Protective Factors of Nigerian Male Asylum Seekers Hosted in Southern Italy: a Culturally Sensitive Quantitative Investigation

This study provides a culturally sensitive quantitative investigation aimed at assessing the post-traumatic symptomatology, post-migratory difficulties, and resilience of 36 Nigerian male asylum seekers hosted in the province of Caserta, South Italy. A survey composed by the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire-Revised (HTQ-R), the Post-Migratory Checklist (PLMD), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) was administered to participants. Descriptive and correlation analyses were made in order to describe the mental health risk and protective factors and understand the relation between these. A linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of post-migratory difficulties and resilience on PTSD. Stratified bivariate analyses were also computed to detect PTSD group and no-PTSD group differences about post-migration difficulties and resilience levels. Regression analysis showed that PMLD numbers significantly increased the risk of having PTSD. No significant effect emerged for the level of resilience. Statistically significant differences between the PTSD group and non-PTSD group in relation to post-migratory difficulties were also found. No differences in the resilience factors emerged. The results offer a glimpse into a specific ethnic group of asylum seekers and its mental health risks and protective factors, taking into consideration the specificities of their past and current life-story experiences. Clinical implications for professionals working in the field of forced migration will be outlined.

Improving University Students' Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From an Online Counseling Intervention in Italy

Background

The mental health of university students is significantly affected when faced with public health emergencies and requires specific interventions to help support and prevent any long-lasting effects that the pandemic may have on their mental health status. This study aims to evaluate the impact of an online individual counseling intervention provided by the University of Foggia and carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health status of a sample of university students.

Methods

32 Italian undergraduate students took part in a one-group pretest-posttest research design. The data was gathered in two times: before the start of the counseling intervention (T1), positive and negative affect, satisfaction with life, global mental distress, anxiety, stress, and future time perspective were collected, at the end of the counseling intervention (T2), the same dimensions were measured. A one-way repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed, and single Bonferroni-corrected dependent t-tests were conducted on variables showing a significant change over time.

Results

The results showed that positive affect, subjective well-being, and future time perspective increased significantly after the intervention. In contrast, the participants reported significantly lower levels of negative affect, global mental distress, state and trait anxiety, as well as perceived stress over time.

Conclusions

The study demonstrates the promising impact of online counseling intervention and its efficient contribution in promoting the well-being of university students. The results contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young adults, helping professionals develop more efficient clinical and psychological interventions.

Effect of online counselling on emotional outcomes during the COVID‐19 pandemic: An innovative group intervention for university students using the Brain Wave Modulation Technique

Young people's mental health problems are a matter of concern during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Counselling services for university students by means of telemental support can help them to deal with psychological issues that they may be facing due to the pandemic. The present study investigated the effects of four once‐weekly online counselling sessions based on a mind‐body technique (the Brain Wave Modulation Technique; BWM‐T) on enhancing positive affect and on reducing negative affect and anxiety in a sample of 54 university students (96.3% females; M_age = 21.31 years, SD = 2.09). An experimental design was conducted: the participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group, which received 15 min of a guided online BWM‐T session, or to the control group, which watched a 15‐min video on how to sustain their psychological well‐being. The results of a two‐factor mixed‐design analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the participants in the intervention group reported a significant increase in positive affect and a decrease in negative affect over time compared to those in the control group. They also reported a slight decrease in state anxiety compared to the control group, although this was just short of statistical significance. The information provided by this study, regarding emotional outcomes among university students after four brief online counselling sessions, suggests that such interventions could be an effective and sustainable way to reinforce young people's mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic, as well as later in their university careers and adult lives.

The Independent, Joint, and Additive Associations of Physical Activity and Self-Compassion on Depression Symptoms Among Chinese College Students

Background

Physical activity and self-compassion are closely related to individuals' mental health (eg, depression). However, most studies only examined their independent roles in mental health without considering the potential interaction between the two variables. The present study aimed to investigate the independent and joint associations between physical activity (PA) and self-compassion (SC) on depression symptoms and examine the additive interaction between PA and SC.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was utilized in the present descriptive study. By recruiting participants via social media platforms, 1846 Chinese college students completed International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form, the Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire, and items regarding socio-demographic information. Independent and joint roles of low-level PA (LPA) and low-level SC (LSC) on depression symptoms were examined by logistic regression models. Additive interaction between LPA and LSC on depression symptoms was examined by the following indices: relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI), attributable proportion (AP), and synergy index (S). Socio-demographic variables were included in the models as covariates.

Results

Both LPA (OR = 1.47 [1.16, 1.86]) and LSC (OR = 5.74 [3.89, 8.45]) were independently associated with higher probability of depression symptoms. Combining LPA and LSC led to an additive interaction and greatly increased the odds of depression symptoms (OR = 9.62 [5.38, 17.22]; RERI = 2.47 [0.19, 4.75], AP = 0.25 [0.05, 0.44], S = 1.38 [1.02, 1.87]).

Conclusion

Both LPA and LSC were associated with an increased risk of depression symptoms. Moreover, combining LPA and LSC may develop an additive risk for depression symptoms. Future research and clinical intervention could integrate PA and SC to find a better way to resist depression symptoms.

Effects of the Brain Wave Modulation Technique Administered Online on Stress, Anxiety, Global Distress, and Affect During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Clinical Trial

This study aims to evaluate the effects of an innovative mind-body practice named the brain wave modulation technique (BWM-T) on stress, anxiety, global distress, and affect. The technique was administered online through a web-based video conferencing platform. The intervention started on week four of the first quarantine in Italy (week commencing 30th March 2020), for a duration of 4 weeks and ended before lockdown measures were loosened. 310 people participated in the study, mean age 28.73 years old (SD = 9.16), 77.8% women. Of these, about half were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the other half served as controls. Participants completed online psychological tests before and after the intervention. 266 people (144 experimental, 122 controls) completed the post-intervention tests. Consistent with our hypothesis, the study's findings indicate a reduction in the levels of stress, anxiety, global distress, and negative affect in the experimental group, compared to the control group. Moreover, the experimental group also showed higher levels of positive affect, compared to controls after the intervention. The present findings add to the current literature in suggesting that the BWM-T reduced stress not only when administered face-to face but also when administered online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, we also noted that the BWM-T has an effect on anxiety, global distress, and affect, which we had not investigated in previous studies.