Industrial Psychiatry Journal最新文献

Psychological resilience means adapting positively to adversity. This is armed forces' very context and function-encountering, enduring, and overcoming challenging situations through resilience. Scientific study of psychological resilience has moved from individual, to process, onward to developmental trajectories, and to neuro-biological underpinnings. Person-focused and environment-focused variables help us understand the resilient individual. Family resilience has been scarcely studied. The impact of frequent relocations, deployments, uncertainty, stress, injuries, illness, and death on spouses and children of service personnel manifests in varied ways, generating varied concerns and outcomes. Armed Forces across the world have addressed these concerns over the years. Apart from traditional approaches, some recent initiatives have been made in the Indian context. Effective psychological resilience interventions will have to be feasible, culturally acceptable, and possibly supported by digital technology to have a broad impact on families and soldiers.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic prolonged lockdowns, school closures requiring online education support, and uncertainty about examinations caused stress in students.

Aim: To estimate the levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and fear of COVID-19 in adolescent students of Jamnagar and its relationship with possible predictors.

Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study using a proportionate probability sampling method during the third wave of COVID-19 of 4423 adolescent students of Jamnagar, Gujarat. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) measured the main construct. T-tests for two independent samples and multiple linear regression analysis were used to assess the relationship.

Results: Among the adolescent students, 14.81% had moderate fear, while severe fear was found in 3.37%. Moderate or severe depression was observed in 1.31% and 0.16% of students, respectively; severe and extremely severe anxiety was present in 0.65% and 0.11% of students; and stress was found to be moderate in 0.23%. Depression was associated with education, anxiety with education, gender, and a history of COVID-19 in the family and stress with a history of COVID-19 infection in the family and fear of COVID-19 with gender, standard of class, geographical area, socioeconomic class, and father's education.

Conclusion: In our study, the students having a higher fear of COVID-19 were found to have higher depression, anxiety, and stress. The factors associated with a lower level of psychological impact can be used to formulate the interventions needed for the betterment of adolescent mental health.

Geopsychiatry, a newly emerging discipline within psychiatry, examines the influence of geopolitical determinants on mental health and mental illness. Geopolitical determinants include conflict and wars, global austerity, climate change, public health crises (such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)), and migration. This study focuses on the two significant areas of climate change and migration. Climate change can affect mental health directly or indirectly in a variety of ways, including chronic (global warming) and acute (heat waves and environmental disasters) events. Certain groups of migrants, including migrating children, older migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, are particularly vulnerable to developing psychiatric disorders. The convergence of climate change and migration is significantly complicating the already highly difficult situation for mental health services worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where access to care is limited. Despite this, the majority of studies examining mental health impacts of these events originate from high-income countries, and there is still a lack of effective preventive and treatment strategies. In 2023, the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) set up a Special Interest Group on Geopsychiatry with a clear and explicit aim to summarize current evidence and propose strategies to tackle geopolitical challenges on mental health. The Special Interest Group aims to support regional and local groups across all psychiatric disciplines and stakeholders dedicated to building local consensus, prioritizing research, crafting policies, and collating and sharing good clinical practices. With such significant effort, we can expand our understanding and collaboration on geopsychiatry and make changes to the care of people with geopolitical and mental health challenges around the globe.

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared a global pandemic in March 2020, affecting certain health measures. Precautionary hygiene measures of hand washing, mask-wearing, and social distancing were advocated and disseminated to the public through different government machinery.

Aim: The current study explored if government messaging had an impact on the knowledge of COVID-19 and the necessary precautionary behaviors in three groups: persons with past suicide attempts (PSA), persons with schizophrenia (SZ), and the general population during the first lockdown (March to May 2020).

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional 22-item questionnaire was designed to assess "precautionary knowledge," "precautionary behaviors," "living circumstances," and "tobacco and alcohol consumption" before and during the first Indian lockdown. PSA and SZ were contacted telephonically, while for the general population, the survey was adapted into Google Forms and circulated as a WhatsApp link. Inclusion criteria were both genders, 18-65 years, and Indians residing in India.

Results: No differences among PSA, SZ, and the general population were reported in the knowledge for the lockdown and behavior for "hand washing," "mask-wearing," and "frequency of going outdoors." Almost 15% of the general population moved back home during the lockdown. A significantly higher frequency of alcohol consumption was reported by the general population both before and during the lockdown compared with PSA and SZ.

Conclusion: Appropriate COVID-19 knowledge and behavior were seen in PSA, SZ, and the general population. Thus, government-mandated behaviors for COVID-19 were adhered to by all three groups. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of the government's health messaging among people with severe mental illnesses in times of a novel worldwide health crisis.

Due to several geopolitical factors, the number of older migrants increased worldwide with an estimated of 34.3 million in 2020. Older migrants are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems because of their physical health, reduced social networks, and lack of social support. This review aims to summarize current evidence on mental health issues of older persons related to migration and propose possible actions to promote mental health and prevent psychiatric illnesses of this vulnerable group. There are two types of migration in the elderly, for those with and without secured support. Not surprisingly, they have major differences in many characteristics. Common mental health problems in older migrants are depression, loneliness, anxiety, and other symptoms that become complicated with existing or new physical conditions. The links between migration, mental health, and older adults are explored in this paper. Suggested solutions for mental health practitioners and policymakers are proposed. In order to explore these challenges, further suggestions are offered to ensure that older adults' mental health and wellbeing are looked after.

Background: As a prerequisite to start a medical practice in India, Foreign Medical graduates on returning have to sit for FMGE (Foreign Medical Graduate's Exam), organized by NBE. The time and effort involved by the students with adjustments to various changes in educational and examination pattern may manifest as psychiatric morbidities while awaiting a positive outcome.

Aim: To evaluate depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia in Foreign Medical Graduate students and to understand the various factors associated with them.

Materials and methods: A total of 80 MBBS students appearing for FMGE were enrolled during the period of April 2023 to May 2023, after obtaining their written consent on the Google form to participate in this study. The participants answered a semi-structured proforma consisting of information about sociodemographic data, DASS-21 (depression, anxiety, and stress severity scale), ISI scale (insomnia severity index), and RSES (Rosenberg self-esteem scale).

Results: In this study, 76.2%, 80%, 72.5%, and 78.8% of students were found to be suffering from depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia, respectively. A significant statistical correlation was found between anxiety and the students appearing for July FMGE 2023. Stress and depression were associated with insecurities/comparisons faced by the participants due to peers clearing the examination before them. Low self-esteem was associated with 3 or more failed attempts for FMGE and the presence of other stressors preceding/concurrent while preparing for FMGE. Clinical insomnia was found to be statistically significant with depression, anxiety as well as stress in this study. Multiple regression analysis showed that stress and anxiety predicted depression while the young age of the student, low socioeconomic status, low self-esteem, stress, and depression predicted anxiety. Stress was found to be associated with anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Insomnia was corelated with having extension in the UG course and stress while low self-esteem was corelated with students who were attempting for the July 2023 examination and anxiety.

Conclusion: The significantly high proportion of psychiatric morbidities among Foreign Medical Graduates is suggestive of the need for the necessary psychological aid and counseling as these foreign medical graduates can be viewed as an opportunity to correct India's physician shortage.

Background: Recent lexical research in different languages has revealed that there are six personality dimensions instead of the previously proposed five dimensions. To address this issue, the HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised (HEXACO PI-R), a self-rating scale to assess personality characteristics, was constructed. However, researchers in India faced a language barrier because it was only available in English.

Aim: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Hindi translation of the HEXACO PI-R.

Materials and methods: We followed WHO guidelines for the translation and adaptation of instruments. In forward translation, the scale was translated to Hindi independently by two independent bi-lingual authors. Both versions were reviewed, and a common Hindi version was made. Then, in the second step, an expert panel was formed comprising psychologists, authors, and senior psychiatrists. All the shortcomings were addressed, which resulted in a final Hindi version of the scale. Subsequently, a Hindi Professor, who had no background knowledge of the scale, was consulted to check the Grammar and meaning of the scale. Finally, an independent English Professor with no background knowledge of this scale was consulted to translate the Hindi version to English back. A small pilot study was conducted and a resultant Hindi version of the self-report HEXACO was applied to 10 patients to see the shortcomings, which resulted in the final Hindi version. By convenience sampling 300 volunteers, conversant in both the English and Hindi languages were included. The subjects were initially administered alternately the original English version or the Hindi version of the scale. Then after a gap of 14 days, those who initially received the English version filled up the Hindi translation, while those who received the Hindi version initially filled up the English version of the scale.

Results: The scores on the original English scale and the Hindi versions were significantly positively correlated (Spearman's rho 0.900; P < 0.001). The translated scale showed a high degree of internal consistency and acceptable reliability. An exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded 6 factors, which were found to have a further 24 facets. The fitness of the model for the overall scale and its sub-factors was found to be acceptable. Results of the Rasch analysis showed the scale had good infit and outfit values. The person's reliability was good. The Wright map showed a good distribution of the items.

Conclusion: The Hindi translation of the HEXACO PI-R is a valid and reliable tool to gauge the personality dimensions of the Hindi-speaking population of India.