Global Distress Research Articles

Increased psychological distress among young people before and during the fifth wave of COVID-19 after two years of pandemic in Hong Kong: a 6-month longitudinal study

BackgroundDespite over two years of COVID-19 worldwide, the outbreak of the Omicron variant has given rise to an unprecedented surge of infection with diverse lockdown measures implemented globally. Whether the emergence of a new wave of COVID-19 could further affect mental health in the population after nearly two years of the pandemic remains to be addressed. Furthermore, whether changes in smartphone overuse behaviours and physical activity – both of which are particularly relevant to young people – would together contribute to changes in distress symptoms during this wave of COVID-19 was also examined.MethodsA total of 248 young people from an ongoing household-based epidemiological study in Hong Kong who completed their baseline assessments prior to the Omicron variant outbreak, i.e., fifth wave of COVID-19 (July–November 2021), were invited for a 6-month follow-up study during this wave of infection (January–April 2022) (mean age = 19.7 years, SD = 2.7; 58.9% females). At both time points, levels of global distress symptoms, perceived stress, smartphone overuse, frequency of engagement in vigorous physical activity, and other potential risk and protective factors were assessed.ResultsThe proportion of young people presenting moderate-to-severe distress (6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale ≥ 5) significantly increased from 45.6 to 54.4% during the fifth wave of COVID-19 (p < 0.010). Significantly increased levels of smartphone overuse and reduced days of vigorous physical activity were also observed during the fifth wave. Notably, increased smartphone overuse and reduced physical activity both additively and interactively contributed to elevated distress at 6 months, even after accounting for demographic characteristics, psychiatric history, childhood adversity, as well as baseline distress symptoms, resilience, and recent personal stressors.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that the emergence of a new wave of COVID-19, specifically the Omicron outbreak, can further aggravate mental distress even after a protracted period of the pandemic. Awareness of the dynamic nature of COVID-19 is necessitated to address the pressing mental health needs of populations. Supporting young people in healthier patterns of smartphone use and physical activity can be helpful.

Use of Quantile Treatment Effects Analysis to Describe Antidepressant Response in Randomized Clinical Trials Submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of global distress and disability. Earlier studies have indicated that antidepressant therapy confers a modest reduction in depressive symptoms on average, but the distribution of this reduction requires more research. To estimate the distribution of antidepressant response by depression severity. In this secondary analysis of pooled trial data, quantile treatment effect (QTE) analysis was conducted from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database of antidepressant monotherapy for patients with MDD, encompassing 232 positive and negative trials submitted to the FDA between 1979 and 2016. Analysis was restricted to participants with severe MDD (17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [HAMD-17] score ≥20). Data analysis was conducted from August 16, 2022, to April 16, 2023. Antidepressant monotherapy compared with placebo. The distribution of percentage depression response was compared between the pooled treatment arm and pooled placebo arm. Percentage depression response was defined as 1 minus the ratio of final depression severity to baseline depression severity, expressed as a percentage. Depression severity was reported in HAMD-17-equivalent units. A total of 57 313 participants with severe depression were included in the analysis. There was no significant imbalance in baseline depression severity between the pooled treatment arm and pooled placebo arm, with a mean HAMD-17 difference of 0.037 points (P = .11 by Wilcoxon rank sum test). An interaction term test for rank similarity did not reject the rank similarity governing percentage depression response (P > .99). The entire distribution of depression response was more favorable in the pooled treatment arm than in the pooled placebo arm. The maximum separation between treatment and placebo occurred at the 55th quantile and corresponded to an absolute improvement in depression due to active drug of 13.5% (95% CI, 12.4%-14.4%). The separation between treatment and placebo diminished near the tails of the distribution. In this QTE analysis of pooled clinical trial data from the FDA, antidepressants were found to confer a small reduction in depression severity that was broadly distributed across participants with severe depression. Alternatively, if the assumptions behind the QTE analysis are not met, then the data are also compatible with antidepressants eliciting more complete response in a smaller subset of participants than is suggested by this QTE analysis.

Neural mechanisms of comforting: Prosocial touch and stress buffering

Comforting is a crucial form of prosocial behavior that is important for maintaining social unity and improving the physical and emotional well-being of social species. It is often expressed through affiliative social touch toward someone in distress, providing relief for their distressed state. In the face of increasing global distress, these actions are paramount to the continued improvement of individual welfare and the collective good. Understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for promoting actions focused on benefitting others is particularly important and timely. Here, we review prosocial comforting behavior, emphasizing synthesizing recent studies carried out using rodent models. We discuss its underlying behavioral expression and motivations, and then explore both the neurobiology of prosocial comforting in a helper animal and the neurobiology of stress relief following social touch in a recipient as part of a feedback loop interaction.

D-CRSE: Diminishing chemotherapy related side effects through patient education.

e24148 Background: Patient (pt) education materials regarding self-management of cytotoxic chemotherapy related side effects are lacking at Penn State Cancer Institute (PSCI), resulting in patients using disreputable sources. We created a brochure that educates patients on common side effects, tools to address the problems themselves, information on when to contact their oncologist, and guidance on when to visit the ED. The aim of our pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility at PSCI and subsequently improve pt related outcomes and quality of life through pt education. Methods: Chemotherapy naïve pts with breast or gastrointestinal (GI) cancer were enrolled from November 2021-December 2022. At the baseline visit, pts were consented, given the brochure and asked to complete surveys. The Emotional Thermometer Scale (ETS) evaluates mental health, measuring distress, anxiety, depression, and anger while the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) evaluates symptoms commonly seen with chemotherapy. MSAS means were also broken down into physical, psychological, and global distress index (GDI) subsets. Pts filled out the same surveys at their 6 and 12 week visits to assess change over time. Results: 40 pts completed the baseline surveys, and 36 of them had at least one additional visit. Some key demographics were: 82.2% female, 17.8% male, 22.2% GI cancer (71.4% colonic adenocarcinoma, 14.3% rectal adenocarcinoma, 14.3% anal squamous cell carcinoma), 77.8% breast cancer (81.8% ductal carcinomas, 9.1% lobular carcinomas, 9.1% invasive metaplastic carcinoma, 52.5% ER+, 42.5% PR+, 22.5% HER2+), and 27.5% of patients underwent concurrent therapies with chemotherapy. Table 1 summarizes the mean score comparisons from baseline to 6 and 12 weeks for the ETS and MSAS. We observed significantly decreased psychological symptoms at week 12 compared to baseline (p = 0.023), while physical symptoms did not change significantly (p = 0.21). Conclusions: We successfully conducted a pilot study distributing a standardized educational brochure, thus demonstrating feasibility of this intervention. Measured psychological symptoms decreased over time, while physical symptoms did not, which aligns with side effect progression from cumulative chemotherapy burden. We plan to expand standardized pt education materials to other cancer types, incorporate digital educational tools, and further explore pt education barriers. Clinical trial information: NCT04694794 .[Table: see text]

The Importance of Measuring Mental Wellbeing in the Context of Psychological Distress: Using a Theoretical Framework to Test the Dual-Continua Model of Mental Health.

In total, 2065 participants (female n = 1193; 57.8%) completed two online assessments (minimum 30 days apart) measuring psychological distress, mental wellbeing, and demographic information. In total, 1.1% of participants experienced high distress as well as mental wellbeing confirming that psychological distress and mental wellbeing exist independently (Criterion 1). Bipolarity (Criterion 2) was partly disconfirmed: mental wellbeing consistently decreased as symptom severity increased for depression; however, anxiety and stress did not meet bipolarity requirements. Functional independence (Criterion 3) was established: longitudinal analysis found that participants reliably and simultaneously increased (2.7%) or decreased (4.2%) in distress and mental wellbeing, while cross-sectional analysis showed that psychological distress only explained 38% of the variance in mental wellbeing. Findings provide further support for the dual-continua model through analysis of the proposed assessment criteria, suggesting a further need to measure the dual-continua model at the subdomain level, e.g., depression, anxiety, and stress, as opposed to global psychological distress. Validation for the proposed assessment criteria provides important methodological foundations for future studies.

SOCIAL METAPHORS IN THE INSTALLATION ART OF CONTEMPORARY INDIAN WOMEN ARTISTS

Art can be manifested and interpreted by artists to express and transcend changes in their surroundings, as well as showcases tragedies. Art can be used as one of the parameters which broaden our insight towards society. Artists examine social atrocities such as dysfunctional systems, criminal injustices, curbs on the freedom of expression, and childhood traumas which may be embedded in the artists’ minds. Art is the mirror of society and both modernists and post-modernists have tended to demonstrate communal riots and political unrest at the time of global distress. Meanwhile, in the contemporary art world, art is represented with bleak and abject constructions of contemporary subjectivity where, artists basically tend to depict themes such as political issues and reforms, ecological evils, and narratives with social concern. Contemporary paradigms explore new directions to reconnect and be the definition of society in different modes of art. In this study, art and artists will be explored who have contributed to society in profound ways. Their installations will determine the social metaphors evoked and how they unveil the provocative binary of community, how their art has broken stereotypes and became the benefactors of community. This study will also reveal the significance of art in society, in the nation and in the market with visual inputs. In the contemporary domain, art can be shown as personal experiences or with universal themes such as war and migration, which is unfortunately still exists with people suffering irreplaceable scars. This study highlights leading women artists who are critically involved with their societies.

The Role of Family Support and Dyadic Adjustment on the Psychological Well-being of Transgender Individuals: An Exploratory Study

IntroductionThis study aimed to measure dyadic adjustment, social support, and psychological well-being.MethodsA research protocol composed of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was administered to a sample of 109 Italian transgender individuals.ResultsHigher levels of global psychological distress, symptom severity, and interpersonal relationship distress were associated with lower levels of family support and dyadic adjustment. In addition, transgender women and younger transgender individuals reported higher levels of interpersonal relationship distress.ConclusionsThe results indicate that the support and acceptance of one’s partner and family of origin play a crucial role in promoting well-being. It represents an important protective factor with respect to negative psychological health outcomes.Policy ImplicationsThe findings emphasize the need to develop specific clinical and social practices for transgender individuals and their families. Building family and partner-centered policies and programs is particularly important to enable transgender individuals to avoid paying the emotional and psychological costs associated with rejection and non-acceptance.

Combined group and individual therapy for patients with avoidant personality disorder-A pilot study.

Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is a common disorder within mental health services, associated with significant psychosocial impairment. The disorder has been neglected in research. There are currently no evidence-based treatments for AvPD, and there is a need for treatment studies focusing particularly on this form of personality pathology. The present study was a pilot study of combined group and individual therapy for patients with AvPD, based on mentalization-based and metacognitive interpersonal therapy. The aim was to investigate the feasibility of the treatment program and the course of symptoms and personality functioning during treatment and 1-year follow-up. The study included 28 patients. Clinical evaluation at baseline comprised structured diagnostic interviews and patients' self-report of symptoms, psychosocial function, interpersonal problems, personality functioning, alexithymia, self-esteem, attachment style, therapeutic alliance, and client satisfaction. Patients' self-report were repeated at the end of treatment and 1-year follow-up. The drop-out rate was 14%. Average treatment length among the 22 treatment completers was 17 months. Mean levels of therapeutic alliance and client satisfaction were satisfactory. Effect sizes were large for global symptom distress, depression, anxiety, and psychosocial adjustment, and in the moderate range for aspects of personality functioning. Yet, the results showed a wide range of outcomes among the patients. This pilot study shows promising results for combined group- and individual therapy for AvPD patients with moderate to severe impairment. Larger scale studies should be conducted to increase empirically based knowledge to guide development of differentiated treatments adapted to patients' various levels of AvPD severity and profiles of personality dysfunction.

Immigration Transition and Symptom Distress Changes by a Technology-Based Intervention: Asian American Breast Cancer Survivors.

Technology-based programs using computers and mobile devices are known to be effective in providing information and support to marginalized populations including immigrants. Yet, little is still known on the factors that may influence the effectiveness of technology-based programs in improving symptom experience, including immigration transition, especially among Asian American breast cancer survivors. This study aimed to identify the characteristics related to immigration transition that significantly affected the symptom distress changes by a technology-based information and coaching/support program among Asian American breast cancer survivors. This secondary analysis was conducted with the data from 102 Asian American breast cancer survivors from a randomized clinical trial in progress. Multiple instruments were used: the questions on background characteristics and immigration transition and the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Short Form. The data were analyzed using repeated-measurement analyses and decision tree analyses. The mean changes in the symptoms distress scores were as follows: -0.12 (SD, 0.47) in the Global Distress Index scores; -0.08 (SD, 0.43) in the physical symptom distress scores; and -0.15 (SD, 0.65) in the psychological symptom distress scores. The characteristics with the highest impact on the symptom distress score changes included the immigration age for Global Distress Index and physical symptom distress score and the level of acculturation for psychological symptom distress score.

Psychosocial Impact of Virtual Cancer Care through Technology: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

This meta-analysis of RCTs aimed to determine whether replacing face-to-face hospital care with telemedicine deteriorates psychosocial outcomes of adult cancer patients, in terms of quality of life (QoL), anxiety, distress, and depression. RCTs on interventions aimed at improving patient psychosocial outcomes were excluded. MEDLINE, EmBASE, and PsycInfo were searched on 13 May 2022 without language or date restrictions. In total, 1400 records were identified and 8 RCTs included (4434 subjects). Study methodological quality was moderate. Statistically significant improvements were observed in favor of the intervention for QoL (SMD = 0.22, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.43, p = 0.04), anxiety (SMD = -0.17, 95% CI -0.30 to -0.04, p < 0.01), and global distress (SMD = -0.38, 95% CI -0.51 to -0.25, p < 0.01). A meta-analysis on depression could not be performed. In subgroup analyses, the intervention appeared to be more beneficial for patients receiving active treatment vs. follow-up, for "other cancer types" vs. breast cancer, and for "other modes of administration" vs. telephone. Given the many potential advantages of being assisted at home, telemedicine appears to be a viable option in oncology. However, more research is necessary to determine the types of patients who may benefit the most from these alternative care modalities.

Anxiety, depression and global distress among African American young adults with uncontrolled asthma

Background Anxiety and depression are mental health disorders that are often comorbid with asthma. Urban African American young adults with asthma often experience increased risk of anxiety and depression. Objective To explore relationships between symptoms of psychological distress and asthma-related anxiety with asthma outcomes among urban African American young adults with poorly controlled persistent asthma. Methods A secondary analysis of baseline data from a larger study of 141 African American young adults with uncontrolled persistent asthma was examined. Participants completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18), Youth Asthma-related Anxiety Scale, Asthma Control Test (ACT), a daily diary to assess asthma symptoms; and number of asthma attacks. Spirometry assessed airway obstruction. Generalized linear models tested associations. Results In multivariable models testing, higher somatization scores were significantly associated with lower ACT scores (adjusted β = −0.49; 95% CI = −0.69, −0.28; p < 0.01), and higher symptoms (adjusted β = 0.39; 95% CI = 0.14, 0.65; p < 0.01). After adding asthma-related anxiety to the model, the somatization subscale and asthma-related anxiety were significantly associated with ACT scores (adjusted β = −0.36; 95% CI = −0.57, −0.15; p < 0.01), (adjusted β = −0.32; 95% CI = −0.50, −0.14; p < 0.01), respectively. Asthma-related anxiety was also significantly associated with asthma attacks (adjusted β = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.05, 0.43; p < 0.05). Conclusion This study suggests, asthma-related anxiety may differ from general anxiety and be related to poorly controlled asthma among African American young adults.

Do routine outcome monitoring measures tell the same story? Evaluating outcome trajectories and clinical outcomes for the outcome rating scale and outcome questionnaire - 45

ABSTRACT Objective Routine outcome monitoring (ROM) of psychotherapy improves client outcomes and reduces premature terminations. Two ROM systems with the most empirical support are the OQ System (Lambert, 2010) and the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS; Duncan, 2012; Miller et al., 2005). We evaluated if the global distress measures, the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS; PCOMS) and the Outcome Questionnaire–45.2 (OQ-45; OQ System) show similar outcome trajectories and rates of reliable and clinically significant change when completed by the same clients. Method Participants (N = 290) were clients from archived data collected in a training clinic for a psychology doctoral program in the western United States, who completed both the ORS and OQ-45 across treatment. Results Bi-variate correlations between the ORS and OQ-45 were highly correlated at the first session (r = -.73), and for later sessions linear and quadratic estimates were only moderately related (rs = -.31 to -.57). Statistically significantly more clients indicated both reliable change and clinically significant change on the ORS compared to the OQ-45. Discussion The results indicate that these measures are correlated but not interchangeable in relation to the conclusions they generate about treatment outcomes. Measurement tools should be carefully considered given the potential for different conclusions to be drawn regarding treatment progress and outcomes.

Do Dimensional Measures of Mental Health Symptoms Predict Level of Alcohol Involvement in the General Population?

Background: There is a limited understanding of what specific mental health symptoms are associated to alcohol involvement. It is important to understand how the severity of different mental health dimensions may differ, and distinguish between, levels of alcohol involvement. Objectives: (a) explore for differences in severity of mental health symptoms between those with lower, and moderate/high alcohol involvement, (b) assess the degree to which mental health dimensions can distinguish between those with lower, and moderate/high alcohol involvement, and (c) examine what mental health dimensions are related to the highest risk of moderate/high alcohol involvement. Results: 400 participants representative of the general population in the USA were recruited online through Prolific and completed the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test and Brief Symptom Inventory. Each of the nine mental health symptom dimensions significantly differed between lower and moderate/high alcohol involvement, with the moderate/high alcohol involvement group reporting greater severity symptoms. The nine symptom dimensions in combination also significantly distinguished lower and moderate/high alcohol involvement, however only somatization offered unique predictive utility. Lastly, global distress was also able to significantly distinguish the alcohol involvement groups, albeit to a lesser accuracy compared to the collection of individual symptom dimensions. Conclusions: These findings suggest that overall mental health distress may be important to understanding alcohol involvement, however individual symptom dimensions can add further explanatory variance. In particular, somatic symptoms may offer unique utility in understanding the relationship between mental health and alcohol involvement.

An Insight into Current Treatment Strategies, Their Limitations, and Ongoing Developments in Vaccine Technologies against Herpes Simplex Infections.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection, the most prevalent viral infection that typically lasts for a lifetime, is associated with frequent outbreaks of oral and genital lesions. Oral herpes infection is mainly associated with HSV-1 through oral contact, while genital herpes originates due to HSV-2 and is categorized under sexually transmitted diseases. Immunocompromised patients and children are more prone to HSV infection. Over the years, various attempts have been made to find potential targets for the prevention of HSV infection. Despite the global distress caused by HSV infections, there are no licensed prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines available on the market against HSV. Nevertheless, there are numerous promising candidates in the pre-clinical and clinical stages of study. The present review gives an overview of two herpes viruses, their history, and life cycle, and different treatments adopted presently against HSV infections and their associated limitations. Majorly, the review covers the recent investigations being carried out globally regarding various vaccine strategies against oral and genital herpes virus infections, together with the recent and advanced nanotechnological approaches for vaccine development. Consequently, it gives an insight to researchers as well as people from the health sector about the challenges and upcoming solutions associated with treatment and vaccine development against HSV infections.

A Modified Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-Based Time Series Prediction of COVID-19 Cases from Multi-Country Data

The deadly Corona virus that first appeared in a seafood market in the Wuhan city of China in December 2019 has been causing global distress by claiming lives and collapsing economies. Given its serious nature, there is an urgent need to understand the virus’s future trajectory. The current study predicts the next day confirmed, death and recovery cases of COVID-19 pandemic for India, Italy, Spain, and the USA by using a modified multilayer neural network (MMLNN) model. The spread of the COVID-19 data is collected from the Kaggle website for the period of 22nd January 2020 to 20th April 2020 (i.e., for 90 days). The predicted figures of the spread of the disease have been estimated and compared with the actual values. Higher precision of the estimates has been observed from the MMLNN model compared to the conventional multilayer neural network (MLANN) model. Specifically, the MMLNN model does faster and more efficient training of the data resulting in less error. The paper forecasts the next day figures (i.e., for 21st April) for all the three cases and does the comparison of the results with the actual values reported. A deviation of 6% is obtained for India, and for the other three countries the deviation is below 3.5%. Given the high accuracy predictive power, the authors recommend that the MMLNN model can be integrated into the health policy of the countries that are struggling with the spread of the virus. Specifically, a decision on health policies such as restrictions on movement can be based on the short-range predictions of the spread of the virus infection.

Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern omicron: biological features and genomic concern

Corona virus infection is a worldwide health threat that has infected a substantial portion of the world’s population and is caused by SARS-CoV-2. It is the natural tendency of a virus to change the genetic makeup through point mutation, and such viruses are called variant of the original virus. The SARS-CoV-2 virus also undergoes such mutation (maybe one or more and distinct from other) over time and many genetically diverse variant has risen. Such variants might be variants of concern (VOC) and variants of interest (VOI) based on the differences in virulence, transmissibility, pathogenicity, and vaccination efficacy. Omicron, a new VOC of SARS-CoV-2, has recently emerged as global distress to more than 115 countries. The article provides a summary of the evolutionary, biological, and genomic aspects of different SARS-CoV-2 VOC with respect to Omicron and found that amino acid mutation in spike proteins such as A67V, ∆69-70, Q954H, N969K, L981F etc and other structural protein mutations such as D3G, Q19E, A63T in membrane protein, T9I in envelope protein and P13L, ∆31-33, R203K, G204R in nucleocapsid protein results major differences between different VOC/VOI of SARS-CoV-2. Further, the effectiveness of the widely used SARS-CoV-2 vaccines has been reviewed specific to Omicron. The existing available Covid-19 vaccines developed and manufactured by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Moderna, and Novavax show reduced efficacy against the latest VOC of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron. Based on the available literature of preliminary findings, people who get a booster shot or a third vaccine dosage may have better protected against Omicron.

The Characteristics of Asian American Breast Cancer Survivors with Low Quality of Life: a Decision Tree Analysis.

To provide appropriate and adequate information and support for Asian American breast cancer survivors, it would be essential to identify risk groups among them to target in future cancer education interventions. In this secondary analysis, the characteristics of risk groups within Asian American breast cancer survivors who had low quality of life were identified using a decision tree analysis. For this analysis, only the pre-test data of 185 women from a parent study were selected. Multiple instruments including the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale-Breast Cancer (FACT-B) were used in the parent study. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and decision tree analyses. The decision tree analyses showed six combined characteristics associated with lower quality of life scores than the total mean quality of life scores. For instance, the women with lower quality of life scores (than the total mean quality of life scores) had high perceived barriers (cut point = 1.84), low self-efficacy for coping (cut point = 81.50), and high global symptom distress (cut point = 2.27). Also, the characteristics linked to the lowest quality life scores were different depending on the dimensions of the quality of life. The characteristics associated with the quality of life of Asian American breast cancer survivors need to be considered in future education programs for this specific population.

Symptom Assessment among Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy In A Cancer Hospital

People with cancer usually experience various distressing symptoms while receiving chemotherapy. Early identification of distressing symptoms of patients receiving treatment is a crucial step toward providing quality nursing care for patients. This study aimed to assess the frequency, severity and distressing symptoms and its predictors among cancer patients who are receiving chemotherapy. An Analytical cross-sectional study was done among 233 people receiving cancer chemotherapy in a Cancer Hospital. Convenience sampling method was adopted to select sample and data was collected by in-person interview. Out of 233 respondents, less than half(42.6%) belonged to the 40-59 years age group and male (53.6%). The common physical symptoms were pain (70%), lack of energy (67.8%), nausea (58.8%) and psychological symptoms were feeling sad (43.8%), worrying (43.8%) and difficulty sleeping (18.5%). The most severe symptoms experienced by respondents were pain, dry mouth, lack of energy and shortness of breath. Patient’s age (β=0.321, p &lt;0.001), education ( β= 0.094, p &lt;0.001). Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (EOCG) ( β=0.340, p &lt;0.001), number of chemotherapy cycle ( β=0.147, p 0.004) were found to be predictors for the physical symptoms. Likewise, for the global distress index, these variables explained 88.9% of this variance (p&lt;0.001, r 2 =0.889). Education (β=0.078,p &lt;0.001), duration of illness (β=0.081, p =0.032) , age (β=0.0.211, p &lt;0.001), ECOG(β=0.0264, p &lt;0.001) were found to be predictors for the global distress index.

A Self-Help Manual for Psychological Distress and Quality of Life During a Haemopoietic Stem-Cell Transplant: An Effectiveness and Acceptability Pilot.

Haemopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) can be a highly distressing procedure that negatively impacts quality of life (QoL). Self-help interventions can help improve psychopathology and wellbeing in patients with physical illness, but have rarely been trialled with HSCT recipients. This study aimed to pilot the utility of a self-help manual intervention during the acute phase of HSCT. Forty autologous and allogeneic HSCT candidates were randomly assigned to a self-help manual intervention or treatment as usual (TAU). Psychological distress (BSI-18) and QoL (FACT-BMT-Vs4) were measured pre-, 2-3weeks and 3months post-HSCT. Linear mixed-effects analyses showed no significant group-time interaction for global QoL (p = .199) or global distress (p = .624). However, highlighting a protective role during admission, manual participants showed minimal QoL or somatic distress change at 2-3weeks post-transplant compared with moderate-large effects for reduced QoL (d = 0.62) and increased somatic distress (d = -0.81) for TAU patients. Thematic analysis suggests the manual helped prepare patients for transplant and provided strategies to improve distress and QoL. This pilot provides preliminary evidence for the benefit of a self-help manual during hospitalisation for a HSCT. More intensive, recovery-focussed care, however, may be needed to improve psychological health in the post-hospital period. Retrospectively registered trial (ANZCTR No. 12620001165976, 6th November 2020).

Network Analysis of the Structure of the Core Symptoms and Clinical Correlates in Comorbid Schizophrenia and Gambling Disorder

Few studies have analyzed the clinical profile of treatment-seeking patients with the comorbid presence of schizophrenia (SCZ) and gambling disorder (GD), which warrants new research to assess the network structure of this complex mental condition. The aim of this study was to explore the organization of the symptoms and other clinical correlates of SCZ with GD. Network analysis was applied to a sample of N = 179 SCZ patients (age range: 19–70 years, mean=39.5, SD=9.9) who met clinical criteria for gambling disorder-related problems. Variables included in the network were the core GD symptoms according to the DSM-5, psychotic and paranoid ideation levels, global psychological distress, GD severity measures (debts and illegal behavior related with gambling), substances (tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs), and personality profile. The nodes with the highest authority in the network (variables of highest relevance) were personality traits and psychological distress. Four empirical modules/clusters were identified, and linkage analysis identified the nodes with the highest closeness (bridge nodes) to be novelty seeking and reward dependence (these traits facilitate the transition between the modules). Identification of the variables with the highest centrality/linkage can be particularly useful for developing precise management plans to prevent and treat SCZ with GD.