Cogent mental health最新文献

Puberty is a period of rapid physical, psychological, and social development marked by significant hormonal shifts and brain reorganization. These changes influence various aspects of early adolescents' lives, including sleep patterns. Sleep is essential for healthy development, impacting cognitive functions, psychological well-being, and physical health. During puberty, sleep-wake regulation undergoes substantial modifications, often leading to changes in subjective sleep quality, daytime alertness, sleep timing, efficiency, duration, and sleep-related behaviours. This review aims to examine the intricacies of sleep during puberty, taking a biopsychosocial approach to the factors at different levels that affect sleep health changes, including individual-level (hormonal, neurocognitive, and psychological), contextual-level (school, family, peers, and social media use), and cultural and environmental-level (social roles, socio-economic factors and cultural aspects), with a focus on the differences observed between boys and girls. Clinical implications for promoting sleep health and treating sleep difficulties in puberty will be discussed. Understanding the different factors affecting sleep health in puberty and the sex-specific sleep patterns is crucial for addressing the unique needs of pubertal girls and boys and promoting their overall well-being.

This paper provides a systematic review of literature on the termination phase of adult individual psychotherapy, adhering meticulously to the PRISMA guidelines. The review was carried out independently by two researchers. The initial search results yielded 1809 articles, although after exclusion criteria, 48 articles were identified. Backward citation added 19 relevant articles, resulting in the retrieval of 67 articles. Data of the retrieved articles were extracted and reported, covering various themes and ideas such as reasons for termination, types of terminations, the initiation of termination, duration of therapy, termination criteria, termination discussion, the termination period, patients' feelings at termination, therapists' feelings at termination, processing termination, successful or unsuccessful terminations and post-termination contact. The synthesis of this empirically based data serves as a valuable resource for both researchers and clinicians, facilitating easy access to important information.

Hypertension is a significant preventable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and overall mortality globally, affecting 31.1% of the adult population in 2010. The prevalence of hypertension is rising due to aging and lifestyle factors such as poor diets and insufficient physical activity. Conventional therapy modalities often encompass physical or pharmacological measures; nevertheless, the mental practice of meditation has been employed for centuries to reduce cardiovascular risk. However, the scientific revitalization of this technique has previously prompted doubts over its legitimacy. This paper examines the effects of guided meditations and mindfulness techniques on blood pressure regulation and their potential to enhance cardiac biomarkers, including heart rate variability, cortisol levels, and inflammatory markers, through a review of existing literature and empirical studies. The findings suggest that mindfulness and guided meditation may serve as promising, non-pharmacological complements to traditional hypertension and cardiovascular disease treatments, though further research is needed to strengthen these conclusions.

In rural, poor, largely illiterate Pujehun District of Sierra Leone there were no interventions available for perinatal depression (PND). To address this need, Project Peanut Butter established a counseling service. This process included selection and training of counselors and the creation, initiation and implementation of a standardized curriculum for counseling services. The screening tool was an adapted Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (aPHQ-9). The PHQ-9 is validated and used worldwide. aPHQ-9 scores range from 0 to 27, with a score ≥ 9 used to define eligibility for counseling. The screening tool is administered by a counselor. A culturally adapted cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) curriculum was developed, designed to mitigate the adverse consequences of dysphoria and empower participants to constructively reintegrate into their families and communities. All communication with the illiterate participants utilized pictures and verbal idioms. Counseling was largely delivered individually, and consisted of six 45-minute sessions. Sustained counseling participation was 92%, as defined by attending multiple sessions. This model serves as a replicable framework for similar initiatives in high illiteracy contexts, with the goal of ameliorating PND. A randomized controlled trial is underway to assess the impact of CBT within a broader nutritional intervention study.

In a unique partnership, the Office of Student Life (which oversees counseling and wellness services) joined with the Office of the Provost (which oversees academic programs and faculty) to create a robust response to student mental health concerns by involving faculty in this effort. This approach included written guidelines and comprehensive training for faculty in a multilayered approach. The training program resulted in positive post-workshop responses from faculty who reported greater comfort in dealing with student concerns and increased awareness of resources. Partnerships between the academic side of a university and the student services side can bolster other campus resources to support college student mental health.

We explored adolescents' perceived barriers and facilitators to accessing formal and informal mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic response. In this qualitative descriptive study, 30 semi-structured online interviews were conducted between June and August 2021 with adolescents (13-18 years old, 53.3% girls) living in Canada and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were constructed: 1) perceptions of others being unable to understand and/or help them, 2) discomfort disclosing concerns to a potential helper, 3) concerns about parents and/or peers finding out due to questioned privacy and confidentiality, particularly in the school context, and 4) perceptions about their capacity to access formal support. Themes were related to participants' perceptions of parent/guardian and peer beliefs regarding mental health and help seeking. Parents were experienced as gatekeepers to adolescents' access to mental health services and resources. This study highlights the importance of considering adolescent development in accessibility, particularly their increasing autonomy. Despite schools often being regarded as the ideal location to first connect youth with mental health services, adolescents continue to experience many barriers to seeking and accessing help within this context. Results have implications for improving access to mental health support for adolescents beyond the pandemic, both within and outside of schools.

Background: Ethnically diverse communities experience inequity across mainstream mental health services. Multiple explanations have been suggested as underpinning these, including: stigma, lack of cultural humility, inaccessible structures and widespread racism. The current study aimed to explore understandings of mental health service accessibility from the perspective of third sector service providers in the UK. Third sector organisations are those that are neither part of the public nor private sector, key examples include charities and social enterprises. In the UK, this sector provides the majority of community level mental health services. This enabled consideration of system-level barriers impacting service accessibility.

Method: Semi-structured interviews were facilitated with 15 ethnically diverse participants, employed by 14 different third sector organisations. Interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: Five themes were developed from the analysis: "knowledge is power", "navigating the pathway to inclusivity", "from cultural competence to cultural humility", "deepening connection" and "building on a weak foundation".

Discussion: This study highlights the multifaceted understandings of service accessibility. Uniting perspectives was the necessity for services to proactively take responsibility for disseminating knowledge regarding service access to ethnically diverse communities, recognising that the availability of services is not equally learned. Participants highlighted the value of authentic connection, supported by a willingness from clinicians to self-reflect and challenge internal biases and assumptions. Mainstream services were encouraged to dismantle the institutionally racist foundations, challenge established power structures and meaningfully promote those with diverse cultural experiences to service leadership positions.

Scientists have been predicting the severe impacts of climate change for decades, and today these threats have intensified, with climate events pushing temperatures, sea levels and biodiversity loss to record extremes. This review examines the impact of climate change on mental health in vulnerable populations residing in Africa. Medline, Embase, Ovid, APA PsycINFO, Global Health were searched for studies published after 2007 researching the psychological impact of climate change on vulnerable African populations. Studies were screened according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and results were reviewed using a narrative synthesis approach. Twenty-one articles, including 36,425 participants, were analysed. The results suggest that women, young people, farmers, migrants, people living in rural areas and survivors of climate-related traumatic experiences (such as extreme weather events) are all vulnerable to mental health impacts caused by the climate crisis. Future research is needed in African countries which have not yet been studied, including island nations. Further high-quality research is required to establish longitudinal impacts of the climate crisis and to explore the impacts on vulnerable groups which are, as yet, neglected in the research, including, e.g., ethnic minorities, indigenous groups and LGBTQ+ communities.

Growing awareness of climate change and other ecological crises presents significant challenges to both psychological well-being and collective resilience. Eco-anxiety, a form of psychological distress related to these threats, has garnered increasing attention but remains inconsistently defined and studied across the scientific literature. This scoping review synthesizes findings from 202 articles, examining the definitions, dimensions, correlates, and coping strategies associated with eco-anxiety. It highlights the implications of eco-anxiety for mental health, well-being, and environmental engagement. The review proposes a conceptual framework for understanding eco-anxiety and its related constructs, offering a structured synthesis of current knowledge. By identifying critical gaps, it provides directions for future research on eco-anxiety and the broader psychological impacts of climate change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely influenced the mental health of individuals in developing countries, whereas the impoverished urban population has been affected the most due to unattainable mental healthcare and the societal stigma surrounding mental illness. This research aims to assess the mental health status of slum dwellers in the aftermath of COVID-19. Psychological well-being, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression symptoms were evaluated through structured face-to-face interviews with 404 individuals from July to September 2023. More than half of the participants experienced poor mental well-being, while women tended to have high symptoms of depression (35%) and PTSD (18%). Slum dwellers who experienced food scarcity and used unimproved or community latrines during the pandemic were more likely to report symptoms of PTSD. Furthermore, those who experienced any crime or domestic violence (OR = 2.19; 95% CI: 1.08-4.45) and lost their jobs (OR = 1.56; 95% CI: 1.04-2.33) during the pandemic were more likely to report poor mental health. Therefore, the vulnerable population urgently needs targeted interventions, such as skill-building opportunities for the unemployed, gender-segregated sanitation facilities and training programs to support their mental health. Prioritizing mental health awareness campaigns and establishing strong social safety nets can help communities become more resilient to future pandemics and crises.