Mental health awareness initiatives and expansion in the concept breadth of mental health disorders have been suggested as potential contributors to the increased prevalence of mental disorders and help-seeking in younger people. Consistent with positive effects of mental health awareness campaigns, this study explored whether younger people show greater accuracy at recognising mental health disorders from written vignettes, lower mental health stigma and appropriate help-seeking recommendations.
Participants (n = 134 participants <40 years and n = 105 participants ≥40 years of age) were randomised to see three vignettes (Schizophrenia, social anxiety and grief) depicting a ‘young’ character (in their 20 s) or an ‘older’ character (in their 50 s). After each vignette, they were asked whether the character had a mental health disorder, whether they should seek help and questions focused on mental health stigma. They were also asked questions about their own mental health.
Younger participants were more likely to identify a mental health problem and recommend help-seeking for social anxiety and grief than older participants. There were no differences for Schizophrenia. Younger people showed greater stigma towards the vignettes depicting Schizophrenia and social anxiety and rated their own mental health significantly worse than older participants.
Results are consistent with better sensitivity, but lower specificity in the recognition of mental disorders in younger people. Perceptions of whether distressing experiences are considered a mental health disorder that requires professional help (but not the severity of the experiences themselves) may be different in younger compared to older age groups.
Long/Post-COVID patients are in urgent need of specialized treatment. Forest bathing has shown to promote health and well-being, and thus may be an appropriate treatment option. This pilot study aimed to investigate both the feasibility of a two-week audio-guided and mindfulness-based forest bathing intervention and pre-to-post symptom changes in Long/Post-COVID patients.
A repeated-measures design was employed to collect self-reported data on Long/Post-COVID symptoms, fatigue, well-being and stress-coping strategies from moderately affected Long/Post-COVID patients (N = 46, N = 36 included; recruited through media) prior to and following participation in the forest bathing program. Pulse rate was monitored through smartwatches. Feasibility was assessed by analysis of dropout rates.
The dropout rate was 22 % due to physical and environmental conditions. We observed decreased overall Long/Post-COVID symptoms (p < .001) and fatigue (p < .001), increased well-being (p < .001) and a more adaptive use of stress-coping strategies (p < .01) over time. Participants` pulse rate fell within the normal range after a forest “walk” (p < .001).
Our results suggest that further research on audio-guided and mindfulness-based forest bathing is warranted, since this approach may offer a feasible and cost-effective method for the complementary treatment of moderate Long/Post-COVID.
Resilience in children has received considerable interest from research bodies, policymakers, practitioners, and education bodies due to its potential impact on well-being, as well as physical and mental health. To support and cultivate resilience, appropriate measurement is important. However, numerous definitions and measures of resilience exist. To provide clarity, this paper offers a systematic review of measures used to assess resilience in children.
Systematic search conducted in Medline, ERIC, ProQuest Central, Scopus, PsychINFO, and Web of Science. Keywords included ‘resilien* and measure* and child*’. Eligible studies: assessed children aged 0–12 years, of all abilities; and, contained a measure to assess resilience, inclusive of parent, teacher, and/or child-report measures.
From 24,902 studies retrieved, 86 studies were included, identifying 54 measures for assessing resilience. 28 measures identified as proposing to measure resilience construct as their primary goal, whilst 27 were identified as proxy measures assessing constructs relating to resilience. Overall, 34 % of articles reported on both reliability and validity, with 20 % reporting neither of these.
While there is a range of measures used to assess resilience in children, there is a lack of consensus regarding what constructs and domains represent resilience. A large proportion had minimal or no psychometrics reported, highlighting the limitations of this area. This is an important starting point for consolidating how resilience is defined and measured within research.