Journal of Mental Health最新文献

Background: Adolescent mental health problems have increased in prevalence. Teachers' Mental Health Literacy (MHL) may play an important role in public mental health prevention approaches. This systematic review and narrative synthesis aimed to identify what is known globally about the extent of secondary school teachers' MHL and the types and effectiveness of MHL interventions for secondary school teachers.

Methods: PsycINFO, PubMed, ERIC, EBSCO-Psychological and behavioural sciences collection, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched to identify studies until 29/04/2024. Two independent reviewers screened the returns.

Results: Twenty eligible studies were reviewed. Most intervention studies were from high-income countries and used a psycho-educative approach. Pre-intervention, teachers' levels of MHL were mixed across MHL domains. Post-intervention, increases in mental health knowledge and attitudes and decreases in mental health stigma were reported. Low use of standardised MHL measures, lack of randomised controlled trials, and lack of follow-up data affect evidence quality.

Conclusion: Interventions to improve secondary school teachers' MHL can be effective, at least in the short term. Evidence quality needs to be improved to inform recommendations on whether they should be part of a public mental health approach for adolescents.

Background: Limited evidence exists regarding how sex differences in mental health are changing over time, especially in the context of recent health and economic adversities.

Aims: To examine the temporal shifts in mental health issues among males and females, and explore the influence of education and loneliness on these trends.

Methods: Data were utilized from the 2020 to 2023 Monitor study, a repeated cross-sectional survey of adults 18 years and older in Ontario, Canada. The study employed a Qualtrics-based web panel survey (n = 5,317). Mental health was assessed using Kessler-6 questionnaire, and analyses were performed using Generalized Linear Model (GLM) with gamma distribution.

Results: The results showed that there was a significant three-way interaction effect between sex, time and education with psychological distress (p = 0.014), suggesting that psychological distress increased between 2020 and 2023 among males who had less than college education. However, it remained stable among males with college/university degrees and females overall. Interaction between sex and feeling lonely on psychological distress was also evident (p = 0.004).

Conclusions: Mental health issues remained a significant public health challenge among adults, especially psychological distress increasing among males with less than a college education. This underscores the importance of targeted interventions addressing males' mental health.

Background: Limited reviews address the role of social support for university students with mental health issues, despite its proven significance for other vulnerable groups.

Aims: The current review aims to examine the current evidence on the nature and impact of social support for students with self-reported and diagnosed mental health problems, along with the availability and effectiveness of social support interventions.

Methods: Electronic databases (CENTRAL, CINAHL, Embase, HMIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, Web of Science) and grey literature databases (EThOS, SSRN) were systematically searched from inception to March 2024 Articles were eligible for inclusion if they reported on the nature and role of social support for university students with mental health problems. Data from included articles were extracted and narratively synthesised. Quality of included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

Results: Ten studies, involving 3669 participants, were included. Findings indicated high social support significantly mitigated against suicide, depression, anxiety, and psychological distress. Barriers to support access and both positive and negative impacts on mental health were identified.

Conclusions: Results underscore the need to consider the distinct support requirements of students with mental health problems, who often face insufficient access to high social support. This emphasises the potential for effective interventions in this population.

Background: Social media has become a dominant part of daily lives for many, but excessive use may lead to an experience of stress. Only relatively few studies have investigated social media's influence on mental health.

Aims: We aimed to investigate whether social media use is associated with perceived stress and changes in perceived stress over 18 months.

Methods: The study population consisted of 25,053 adults (mean age 42.8; 62% women) from the SmartSleep Study. Self-reported frequency of social media use, of 10 specific social media platforms, and of perceived stress (the Perceived Stress Scale 4 item) was obtained at baseline and 18-months follow-up (N = 1745). The associations were evaluated at baseline and follow-up using multiple linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders.

Results: Compared to non-use, high social media use (at least every second hour) was associated with a slightly higher perceived stress level at baseline. No association was found between the frequency of social media use and changes in perceived stress during follow-up. Only small differences in these associations were noted across social media platforms.

Conclusions: Further studies are needed to comprehensively explore the relationship between excessive social media use and mental health, recognizing different characteristics across social media platforms.

Background: The impact of COVID-19 and its mitigation measures have exacerbated the global mental health crisis. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) may have the potential to address health system gaps and global health inequalities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Aims: This thesis aims to map the current state of DMHIs in Nigeria and illustrate their progress, limitations, and challenges.

Methods: Twenty interviews were conducted with researchers, healthcare providers, and digital health experts. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Then data were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: The majority of DMHIs in Nigeria are private mental health service delivery platforms that connect directly to mental health professionals. The target audience encompasses all mental health conditions and ages. Advantages of DMHIs include increasing efficiency, accessibility, addressing stigma, and filling the mental health service gap. Disadvantages include skepticism, limitations of applicability, lack of accessibility to internet and technology, lack of sustainability and infrastructure, and lack of funding and policies.

Conclusion: The lessons learned in the Nigerian context can inform the delivery of DMHIs in other low-resource settings. Future research should examine user and provider feedback of DMHIs to allow for comparative analysis, more conclusive and replicable results to inform DMHI design and implementation.

Background: This study investigates the discourse on anxiety management strategies within the TikTok platform, analyzing a substantial dataset of 45,639 comments collected over a year.

Aims: The primary aim is to explore the various strategies users employ to manage anxiety, focusing on how these strategies are discussed and shared on TikTok.

Methods: A mixed-method approach was utilized, combining Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for topic modeling with qualitative analysis. This methodology allowed for the identification of nine distinct topics, which were further grouped into three main categories: Self-Empowerment and Coping Strategies, Community Support and Social Connectivity, and Recognizing and Navigating Triggers.

Results: The analysis revealed a diverse range of strategies users employ to manage anxiety, spanning personal coping mechanisms, social support networks, and the recognition and mitigation of triggers. These findings underscore TikTok's role as a dynamic space for sharing, exploring, and validating experiences related to anxiety management.

Conclusions: TikTok offers unique opportunities for identity construction and community support amidst the challenges of anxiety. However, the study acknowledges limitations, such as potential biases in keyword-based data collection and the complexity of capturing multimodal discourse on the platform. The conclusion emphasizes the need for further refinement of digital mental health platforms, calling for sophisticated algorithmic solutions to enhance user support and content relevance.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the emotional experiences and beliefs of individuals who engage in self-harm by analyzing data from an online self-harm forum. Emphasis was placed on understanding how these individuals describe and evaluate their emotions (emotion beliefs) and the role these beliefs play in their emotion regulation and self-harming behaviors.

Method: A total of 119 posts from a self-harm discussion board on the forum were analyzed. Thematic analysis, following a critical realist perspective, was employed to identify and interpret recurring patterns in how posters articulated their emotion beliefs.

Results: Four themes were created during analysis: "My emotions are too much," "Self-harm as control or controlled by self-harm," "Suppression is better than expression," and "Self-harm helps me escape my emotional pain." Posters described experiencing overwhelming, uncontrollable, and unacceptable emotions, resulting in a desire to suppress or escape them through self-harm.

Conclusions: Individuals struggling with self-harm hold negative beliefs about their emotions, which intensify emotional experiences and contribute to feelings of shame and guilt. The findings highlight the necessity of interventions targeting these negative emotion-related beliefs to foster alternative emotional regulation strategies and reduce reliance on self-harm, as well as the importance of increased education on these emotional beliefs for those who support them, in order to reduce stigma. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the potential of online forums in gaining valuable insights into sensitive behaviors.

Background: Adolescents are vulnerable to mental health problems, and this vulnerability may be enhanced in situations such as the present COVID-19 pandemic. Online mental health literacy (MHL) education may help adolescents maintain/improve their mental health, especially in situations where face-to-face education is difficult.

Aims: To evaluate the effects of a teacher-led "online Short MHL Program (o-SMHLP)" delivered online to grade 10 students in their classrooms.

Methods: Students (age 15-16) were randomly assigned to an o-SMHLP group (n = 115 (3 classes)) or a control group (n = 155 (4 classes)) at the class level. The program consisted of a 20-minute session which included an animated video. The students completed a self-report questionnaire pre- and post-intervention assessing outcomes including: "Knowledge about mental health/illnesses", "Recognition of necessity to seek help", "Intention to seek help", and "Unwillingness to socialize with people having mental illness". Mixed effects modeling was employed for analyses.

Results: All outcomes were significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control group post-intervention, except for "intention to seek help".

Conclusions: The present study shows the effectiveness of an online MHL intervention while identifying the need for the development of effective online programs targeting adolescents' "intention to seek help".