Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on perceived discrimination and internalized stigma in people with previous mental disorder diagnoses in Spain

How People's COVID-19 Induced-Worries and Multiple Environmental Exposures Are Associated with Their Depression, Anxiety, and Stress during the Pandemic

This study investigates how people's perceived COVID-19 risk, worries about financial hardship, job loss, and family conflicts, and exposures to greenspace, PM2.5, and noise (in people's residential neighborhoods and daily activity locations) are related to their depression, anxiety, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a two-day activity-travel diary, a questionnaire, and real-time air pollutant and noise sensors, a survey was conducted to collect data from 221 participants living in two residential neighborhoods of Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic. Linear regression was conducted to explore the relationships. Significant associations between people's COVID-19-related worries and exposures to grassland and PM2.5 with depression, anxiety, and stress were found in the results. These associations with depression, anxiety, and stress vary depending on people's demographic attributes. These results can help direct the public authorities' efforts in dealing with the public mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perceived School Fairness and Willingness to Report Bias-Based Bullying Among Youth During COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND

As COVID-19 has let many students into remote learning environments and exacerbated inequality among marginalized individuals, there is a growing concern about Bias-Based Bullying (BBB) in online spaces among school-aged youths. Learning modality and perceived school fairness may affect youth's likelihood of reporting BBB.

METHODS

Data were collected as part of "No Place For Hate" (NPFH) project, which was conducted by an equity office of a school district. A sample of middle and high school students (N = 1117) in the school district was used as an analytic sample. We conducted a series of independent samples t tests and calculated a hierarchical stepwise multivariate regression model to examine the proposition.

RESULTS

Results demonstrated that students in fully remote modality reported slightly higher levels of witnessing BBB (t = 2.29, p < .05), lower perceived school fairness (t = -2.94, p < .01), and higher levels of likelihood of reporting BBB (t = 2.31, p < .05). Results of the regression model showed that perceived school fairness was positively associated with likelihood of reporting BBB, even when considering the influences of sociodemographic characteristics, learning modality, and experience of witnessing BBB.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings of this study suggest that learning modality and perceived school fairness can meaningfully explain witnesses' likelihood of reporting BBB. Additional research should continue investigating how schools can encourage students to increase their likelihood of reporting and adopt the bystander response of reporting against BBB at school to ensure school health and safety.

Perceived stigma among discharged patients of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: A latent profile analysis

Background

Perceived stigma has greatly influenced the life quality of the COVID-19 patients who recovered and were discharged (RD hereafter). It is essential to understand COVID-19 stigma of RD and its related risk factors. The current study aims to identify the characteristics of perceived COVID-19 stigma in RD using latent profile analysis (LPA), to explore its psycho-social influencing factors, and to determine the cut-off point of the stigma scale using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among COVID-19 RD in 13 communities in Jianghan District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China from June 10 to July 25, 2021, enrolling total 1,297 participants. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, COVID-19 perceived stigma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, sleep disorder, fatigue, resilience, social support, and peace of mind. LPA was performed to identify different profiles of perceived COVID-19 stigma level. Univariate analysis and multinominal logistic regression analysis were conducted to explore the influencing factors in different profiles. ROC analyses was carried out to identify the cut-off value of perceived stigma.

Results

Among the participants, three profiles of perceived stigma were identified: "low perceived COVID-19 stigma" (12.8%), "moderate perceived COVID-19 stigma" (51.1%), and "severe perceived COVID-19 stigma" (36.1%). Multinominal logistic regression analysis revealed that older age, living with other people, anxiety, and sleep disorder were positively associated with moderate perceived COVID-19 stigma, while higher educational level was negatively associated with moderate perceived COVID-19 stigma. Female, older age, living with other people, anxiety, and sleep disorder were positively associated with severe perceived COVID-19 stigma, while higher educational level, social support, and peace of mind were negatively associated with severe perceived COVID-19 stigma. ROC curve of the Short Version of COVID-19 Stigma Scale (CSS-S) for screening perceived COVID-19 stigma showed that the optimal cut-off value was ≥ 20.

Conclusion

The study focuses on the issue of perceived COVID-19 stigma and its psycho-socio influencing factors. It provides evidence for implementing relevant psychological interventions to COVID-19 RD.

Bibliometric Analysis of Publications on Stigmatization in Turkiye According to the Association Rules

In this study, studies published in Turkey and included in ULAKBIM TR Index and Turkish Psychiatry Index and containing the keyword stigmatization were examined in terms of bibliometrics A total of 143 studies were evaluated within the scope of the study.. It was determined that 80.4% of the studies were research articles and they were frequently made in a descriptive design. It was determined that 65% of the studies were related to the type of public stigma, were frequently conducted in the field of psychiatric nursing, and were most frequently published in the Journal of Psychiatric Nursing. According to the association rule analysis, it was determined that the stigma keyword was used most frequently with mental disorders, internalized stigmatization, individuals with mental disorders, and infectious diseases. Considering that the studies examined are often made in a descriptive design related to mental disorders, it may be recommended to increase the number of experimental studies aiming to combat the stigma of mental disorders.

Social stigma against individuals with COVID-19: scale development and validation

Background

Social stigma toward individuals with COVID-19 is a public phenomenon that significantly impacts the prevention of this disease. The study aimed to develop and examine the scale of social stigma against people with COVID-19.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2021 using random sampling. Two hundred twenty-five people were involved in the study. All people are domiciled in Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia and have never been infected with COVID-19. The scale was designed based on the dimensional structure of social stigma and then evaluated the scale's psychometric properties.

Result

The study found that instruments with 12 items had a content validity index of 1.0. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.875 showed as satisfactory. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the first sample (n = 100), and four factors were extracted from the exploratory factor analysis: ignorance/labelling, stereotype, separation, and discrimination. Following this, the confirmatory factor analysis in the remaining sample (n = 120) showed a good fit between the four-factor model and the theoretical model of social stigma.

Conclusions

The social stigma scale has been determined to be valid and reliable. Health practitioners can use this scale to predict social stigma toward individuals with COVID-19 to develop better transmission prevention strategies and improved quality of care.

Joint European policy on the COVID-19 risks for people with mental disorders: An umbrella review and evidence- and consensus-based recommendations for mental and public health

As COVID-19 becomes endemic, identifying vulnerable population groups for severe infection outcomes and defining rapid and effective preventive and therapeutic strategies remains a public health priority. We performed an umbrella review, including comprehensive studies (meta-analyses and systematic reviews) investigating COVID-19 risk for infection, hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and mortality in people with psychiatric disorders, and outlined evidence- and consensus-based recommendations for overcoming potential barriers that psychiatric patients may experience in preventing and managing COVID-19, and defining optimal therapeutic options and current research priorities in psychiatry. We searched Web of Science, PubMed, and Ovid/PsycINFO databases up to 17 January 2022 for the umbrella review. We synthesized evidence, extracting when available pooled odd ratio estimates for the categories “any mental disorder” and “severe mental disorders.” The quality of each study was assessed using the AMSTAR-2 approach and ranking evidence quality. We identified four systematic review/meta-analysis combinations, one meta-analysis, and three systematic reviews, each including up to 28 original studies. Although we rated the quality of studies from moderate to low and the evidence ranged from highly suggestive to non-significant, we found consistent evidence that people with mental illness are at increased risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and most importantly mortality, but not of ICU admission. The risk and the burden of COVID-19 in people with mental disorders, in particular those with severe mental illness, can no longer be ignored but demands urgent targeted and persistent action. Twenty-two recommendations are proposed to facilitate this process.

Access to Mental Health Care during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET Multicentric Study

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented public health emergency, with consequences at the political, social, and economic levels. Mental health services have been called to play a key role in facing the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of the general population. In the period March-May 2020, an online survey was implemented as part of the Covid Mental Health Trial (COMET), a multicentric collaborative study carried out in Italy, one of the Western countries most severely hit by the pandemic. The present study aims to investigate the use of mental health resources during the first wave of the pandemic. The final sample consisted of 20,712 participants, mainly females (N = 14,712, 71%) with a mean age of 40.4 ± 14.3 years. Access to mental health services was reported in 7.7% of cases. Among those referred to mental health services, in 93.9% of cases (N = 1503 subjects) a psychological assessment was requested and in 15.7% of cases (N = 252) a psychiatric consultation. People reporting higher levels of perceived loneliness (OR 1.079, 95% CI 1.056-1.101, p < 0.001), practicing smart-working (OR 1.122, 95% CI 0.980-1.285, p = 0.095), using avoidant (OR 1.586, 95% CI 1.458-1.725, p < 0.001) and approach (OR 1.215, 95% CI 1.138-1.299, p < 0.001) coping strategies more frequently accessed mental health services. On the other hand, having higher levels of perceived social support (OR 0.833, 95% CI 0.795-0.873, p < 0.001) was associated with a reduced probability to access mental health services. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a new threat to the mental health and well-being of the general population, therefore specific strategies should be implemented to promote access to mental healthcare during the pandemic and afterwards.

Self-Compassion and Social Connectedness as Predictors of “Peace and Meaning” during Spain’s Initial COVID-19 Lockdown

The COVID-19 lockdown has had a massive psychological impact on mental health in the general population, with increases in anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Spiritual well-being, specifically peace and meaning, has already been identified as one of the main protective factors for these disorders in the COVID-19 context. The aim of the present study is to identify facilitating elements for peace and meaning during the COVID-19 lockdown in Spain. Online surveys were used to obtain data from a sample of 3480 Spanish people. Self-compassion and social support were positively related with peace and meaning, while loneliness and perceived discrimination were negatively related. The model for peace and meaning was statistically significant, explaining 47% of the variance. The significant variables were self-kindness, family support, mindfulness, and sense of belonging having a positive association and loneliness a negative one.