Personal Mental Health Research Articles

Depression Risk Prediction for Chinese Microblogs via Deep-Learning Methods: Content Analysis

BackgroundDepression is a serious personal and public mental health problem. Self-reporting is the main method used to diagnose depression and to determine the severity of depression. However, it is not easy to discover patients with depression owing to feelings of shame in disclosing or discussing their mental health conditions with others. Moreover, self-reporting is time-consuming, and usually leads to missing a certain number of cases. Therefore, automatic discovery of patients with depression from other sources such as social media has been attracting increasing attention. Social media, as one of the most important daily communication systems, connects large quantities of people, including individuals with depression, and provides a channel to discover patients with depression. In this study, we investigated deep-learning methods for depression risk prediction using data from Chinese microblogs, which have potential to discover more patients with depression and to trace their mental health conditions.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore the potential of state-of-the-art deep-learning methods on depression risk prediction from Chinese microblogs.MethodsDeep-learning methods with pretrained language representation models, including bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT), robustly optimized BERT pretraining approach (RoBERTa), and generalized autoregressive pretraining for language understanding (XLNET), were investigated for depression risk prediction, and were compared with previous methods on a manually annotated benchmark dataset. Depression risk was assessed at four levels from 0 to 3, where 0, 1, 2, and 3 denote no inclination, and mild, moderate, and severe depression risk, respectively. The dataset was collected from the Chinese microblog Weibo. We also compared different deep-learning methods with pretrained language representation models in two settings: (1) publicly released pretrained language representation models, and (2) language representation models further pretrained on a large-scale unlabeled dataset collected from Weibo. Precision, recall, and F1 scores were used as performance evaluation measures.ResultsAmong the three deep-learning methods, BERT achieved the best performance with a microaveraged F1 score of 0.856. RoBERTa achieved the best performance with a macroaveraged F1 score of 0.424 on depression risk at levels 1, 2, and 3, which represents a new benchmark result on the dataset. The further pretrained language representation models demonstrated improvement over publicly released prediction models.ConclusionsWe applied deep-learning methods with pretrained language representation models to automatically predict depression risk using data from Chinese microblogs. The experimental results showed that the deep-learning methods performed better than previous methods, and have greater potential to discover patients with depression and to trace their mental health conditions.

Cervical spine radiculopathy epidemiology: A systematic review

Cervical spine radiculopathy (CSR) is a disabling condition that has significant negative impacts on a person's mental health, physical functioning and social participation. Research has reported variable CSR incidence and prevalence among different populations. To date, no systematic review has been completed investigating the prevalence or incidence of CSR; therefore, our objective was to determine the incidence and/or prevalence of CSR in adults. A systematic review was conducted including searches of PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE and CINAHL from inception to February 25, 2020. Studies including data on incidence and/or prevalence of CSR were included. Methodological quality was assessed using a modified Hayden, Cote and Bombardier appraisal checklist. Data were analysed narratively. Nine low- to high-quality studies were included in the final review. Incidence ranged between 0.832 and 1.79 per 1,000 person-years from two high-quality and one low-quality study. Prevalence values ranged from 1.21 to 5.8 per 1,000 from four medium- to high-quality studies. Prevalence values of 1.14% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.45-1.82] and 1.31% (95% CI: 0.66-1.96) for males and females, respectively, were reported from one medium-quality study. One medium-quality study reported an unadjusted prevalence value of 6.3% for males and females. This is the first systematic review investigating the epidemiology of CSR in an adult population. This review reports a variable incidence rate and prevalence of CSR among specific populations; however, this was based on nine studies. There is a priority to investigate CSR epidemiology across other populations globally and standardising CSR diagnostic criteria.

Mental health stigma among college students: misperceptions of perceived and personal stigmas

Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between college student perceived and personal mental health stigmas. Participants: A sample of 352 undergraduate college students from two large Universities in the Eastern United States was utilized. Methodology: A self-report anonymous online survey was utilized. The survey contained demographics as well as questions to assess participant levels of perceived stigma, personal stigma, and social desirability. Results Results revealed that college student perceived stigma was significantly greater than personal stigma, and that perceived stigma and personal stigma were significantly and positively correlated. Conclusions: Overall findings suggest a misperception of campus mental health stigma levels. Based upon these student misperceptions of stigma, best practices for addressing stigma within the clinical setting are discussed. Overall implications for college counseling centers are presented, including campus outreach strategies.

Mentality and behavior in COVID-19 emergency status in Japan: Influence of personality, morality and ideology.

The COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019 and severely influenced society. In response, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency on 7th April in seven prefectures. The study conducted an immediate survey on 8th April to record the response of the general public to the first emergency status due to epidemics. The study hypothesized that personality traits, moral foundation, and political ideology can influence people's mentality, cognition, and behavior toward COVID-19. Based on a nationwide dataset of 1856 respondents (male = 56.3%, Mage = 46.7, emergency regions = 49.9%), the study found that personality, morality, and ideology altered mental health status and motivated behaviors toward COVID-19. Neuroticism and avoiding harm involved cognition and behavior through various means. The study also found significant differences among demographic groups. Results are informative and contributive to the governance and management of, and aid for, individual responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Management of transplant patients outside hospital during COVID-19 epidemic: A Chinese experience.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic poses an increasing challenge for transplant community. Aggressive management measures are conductive to improve compliance and to lower the risk of intra‐hospital infection. In this Personal Viewpoint essay, we shared experiences about management strategies of transplant patients outside hospital amid the epidemic. With the aid of Cloud Clinic service and telemedicine care, transplant patients could be regularly followed up and get medical consultation online. Furthermore, personal health education and mental health assistance are enrolled in our practice.

WOMEN’S RECEPTION ON SOCIAL SUPPORT IN INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT @gethappy.id

Previous research also shows that social media has positive and negative roles related to interpersonal relationships and mental health. The social media used significantly increases social capital and mental well-being, which benefits people with low self-esteem and life satisfaction. Some psychotherapists even use an Instagram platform as their therapeutic medium. This preliminary study frameworks are Stuart Hall’s reception theory, the concept elaborations of social support and online social support, as well as a discussion of the character of social media, Instagram. This paper is based on a qualitative research with data from interviews with 3 female informants on 20-29 years old and gethappy.id account followers. This research succeeded in identifying 2 receptions that emerged from the female group of Instagram account followers gethappy.id. The dominant reader comes from informants who have severe physical health problems and mental health problems related to these physical health problems. Meanwhile, negotiating reader arise from informants who do not have personal physical and mental health problems, but who have a social environment with physical and mental health problems. Another important finding is that the main social support remains family and friends. Social media support is needed when the two main social supports are not present.

Trait resilience and mental health in older adults: A meta-analytic review.

This study aims to systematically review research on the association between resilience as a personality trait and mental health in older adults and to meta-analytically quantify this relation. We included studies assessing older adults (mean age 60years or older), measuring trait resilience with a version of the Resilience Scale (RS) by Wagnild and Young and mental health. We conducted a comprehensive search in Medline, Web of Science, PsycInfo, PubPsych, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Full Text database and the theses database of the German National Library for eligible studies. Study data on associations between resilience and mental health were aggregated using a random-effects model. Twenty-seven studies with 13444 participants were included. Trait resilience and mental health were strongly interrelated (r=0.40, 95% CI [0.36; 0.44]) with substantial heterogeneity (I2 =83%). Published studies revealed larger associations between resilience and mental health (r=0.41 [0.37; 0.45]) than unpublished studies (r=0.25 [0.11; 0.38]). Higher levels of resilience are associated with better mental health in older persons. Because associations were solely assessed cross-sectionally, longitudinal studies are highly needed to draw causal inferences. © 2020 The Authors Personality and Mental Health Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Feminism and gendered impact of COVID‐19: Perspective of a counselling psychologist

When women, girls and gender‐diverse people — who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID‐19 pandemic outbreak since the public health crisis has also become a crisis for feminism — will identify and acknowledge their organismic phenomenological self, wholeness and growth will be fully functioning. Psychological aspects for the public health emergency operated through counselling psychologists to manage mental health, emotional, psychological, cognitive, behavioural, relational and social impacts are fundamental. And the role of counselling psychologists in maintaining personal mental health and their clients is a crucial indicator of collective wellbeing. This perspective is embedded in the gendered approach and feminist framework which attempts to explore and offer the embodied intersectional and divergent impact on living during the COVID‐19 pandemic lockdown.

The big five personality traits, perfectionism and their association with mental health among UK students on professional degree programmes

BackgroundIn view of heightened rates of suicide and evidence of poor mental health among healthcare occupational groups, such as veterinarians, doctors, pharmacists and dentists, there has been increasing focus on the students aiming for careers in these fields. It is often proposed that a high proportion of these students may possess personality traits which render them vulnerable to mental ill-health.AimTo explore the relationship between the big five personality traits, perfectionism and mental health in UK students undertaking undergraduate degrees in veterinary medicine, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and law.MethodsA total of 1744 students studying veterinary medicine, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and law in the UK completed an online questionnaire, which collected data on the big five personality traits (NEO-FFI), perfectionism (Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale), wellbeing (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale), psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire-12), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II) and suicidal ideation and attempts.ResultsVeterinary, medical and dentistry students were significantly more agreeable than law students, while veterinary students had the lowest perfectionism scores of the five groups studied. High levels of neuroticism and low conscientiousness were predictive of increased mental ill-health in each of the student populations.ConclusionsThe study highlights that the prevailing anecdotal view of professional students possessing maladaptive personality traits that negatively impact on their mental health may be misplaced.

Study of the mental health status of medical personnel dealing with new coronavirus pneumonia.

This paper studied the relationship between personality traits and mental health conditions of medical personnel to provide a basis and reference for the implementation of targeted education on mental health. A self-report inventory, the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), was used to investigate the mental health status of 548 medical personnel dealing with the new coronavirus pneumonia in eight provinces and cities of China. The overall mean SCL-90 score and mean values of factors (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, anxiety, phobic anxiety, and psychoticism) of the medical personnel were significantly higher than in the norm group (p < 0.05), while their average interpersonal sensitivity score was significantly lower (p < 0.01). In addition, personal factors affecting the mental health status of medical personnel were identified (all p < 0.05). The overall mental health status of medical personnel responding to new coronavirus pneumonia is generally higher than that of the norm group in China. The results of this study should contribute to measures to alleviate the psychological pressures on medical personnel dealing with the new coronavirus epidemic in China.

Mental Health and Covid-19: the Right to Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of people in the world. Kenya has not been left alone. As a result, jobs have been lost. Families are apart. There is panic and worry in the world. As a result, the mental health of persons is at risk. In my paper, I argue that there is need for the government of Kenya to safeguard the mental health of its citizens. Further, a multi-sectoral approach should be adopted in ensuring the mental wellness of the people.

CREATIVITY AS A SELF-ACTUALIZING PERSON’S CHARACTERISTIC

The article considers creativity as a self-actualizing person’s characteristic. A self-actualizing person is characterised by integral properties that are formed during the process of the person’s self-actualization. They arise from correlations of a wide range of personality traits. The significant characteristics of a self-actualizing person are examined by psychologists working in the field of existential humanism, and different authors mentioned common features of these characteristics. The review of a self-actualizing person’s characteristics described by both foreign and national scientists showed that the universal characteristic of any self-actualizing person, mentioned by all authors, was creativity as a desire for personal growth and the creative ability. Creativity is understood as a mental process (as a synonym for creative (divergent) thinking), as an ability and as a personal characteristic. The most comprehensive understanding of self-actualization and creativity is presented in the humanistic psychological paradigm, where creative potential is considered as a natural tendency to personal balance, mental health and self-actualization. According to A. Maslow, a self-actualizing person is a person who lives a fulfilling life, who has reached personal development corresponding to realization in full of all his/her capabilities. Self-actualizing people use their abilities in full and creatively, experience life satisfaction. Creativity is a fundamental characteristic of human nature, the potential given from the birth to everyone, but most people lose this potential during familiarizing themselves with culture, and only a few are able to preserve it. Creativity does not require special talents or abilities. Creativity is a universal human function that supports all forms of self-expression. Thus, creativity within the framework of self-actualization should be considered as everyday personal creativity– no matter what people do, they do this with a certain attitude, a certain mood that follows from the very nature of their personality. For a person striving for self-actualization, creativity turns into a source of new experience and a driving force for self-development. &nbsp

Violent extremism, mental health and substance abuse among adolescents: towards a trauma psychological perspective on violent radicalization and deradicalization

ABSTRACTMental health issues and psychopathologies have been looked at as potential explanations for violent extremist radicalization for a long time and caused significant debates among academic experts. While psychological or psychopathological determinants for entering extremist environments can mostly be discarded based on the available evidence (except certain personality traits and mental health issues of lone actors), this discourse has rarely focused on the mental health impacts, for example, through factors such as substance abuse and toxic stress, as the consequences of radicalization processes, membership in violent extremist milieus and for deradicalization as well as disengagement for children and adolescents. This article provides a theoretical assessment regarding the available evidence from multiple academic disciplines on mental health problems and associated issues such as substance misuse in young people who have been exposed to violent extremist ideologies or who underwent a violent radicalization process. It discusses the implications for intervention specialists and potential ways to address and manage the risks resulting from these multiple and complex issues. It is argued that the psychological mechanisms involved in violent radicalization have traumatic (i.e. toxic stress) and therapeutic components. Therefore, a trauma psychological perspective on this issue is warranted.

Health is not all about salads: An ethnographic study on health perceptions and health behavior among socially marginalized Danish men.

The effects of social marginalization and health are well-documented, revealing a complex association between health perceptions and health behavior. This is especially evident among socially marginalized men. This study aims to explore health perceptions and health behaviors influencing overall health among socially marginalized men who seem to not benefit from existing municipal health care in a large Danish municipality. These men have varying health challenges and engage in risky health behaviors, such as alcohol drinking, tobacco smoking, and lack of physical activity. This was an ethnographic study including 200hr of participant observations and 25 interviews with socially marginalized men aged 45-65. Health was perceived as related to the ability to participate in daily life activities, such as getting around effortlessly and the ability to work. Alcohol drinking appeared to be part of a complex approach in managing everyday life, including various personal physical and mental health challenges and admission to social networks. Overall, the results provide important insight into how health perceptions and health behaviors are embedded in the men's everyday lives. This knowledge may be used by public health nurses and other health professionals in providing and developing health services.

Teachers' concerns about pupils' mental health in a cross-sectional survey of a population sample of British schoolchildren.

Schools are becoming central to the identification and referral of children and young people with poor mental health. Understanding how well a teacher concern predicts mental disorder in a child or young person is important for mental health teams who need to respond to referrals. This secondary analysis of the 2004 British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey used the first item of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Impact subscale to indicate concern about a child or young person's mental health. Mental disorder according to DSM IVR criteria was assessed using the multi-informant Development and Well-Being Assessment. We compared the proportion with and without mental disorder according to the presence or absence of teacher concern. Teacher concern was moderately predictive (49% with teacher concern had a disorder) and sensitive (teacher concern present among 56% with disorder), while lack of teacher concern was highly predictive (only 5% had disorder) and specific (94% no disorder). Teacher concern was associated with significantly poorer mental health (mean teacher SDQ total difficulty score 19.6, SD 5.6 with disorder, mean 15.0; SD 5.1 if no disorder) compared to children without teacher concern (mean 9.6, SD 5.5 with disorder, and 4.9; SD 4.3 if no disorder; F (3, 5,931)=1527.228, p=.001). If both teacher and parents were concerned, the child or young person was much more likely to have a disorder. A lack of teacher concern can reassure mental health practitioners in the vast majority of cases. While teacher concern does identify those with poorer mental health, it is only moderately predictive of a disorder. When concerned about a child or young person, discussions with parents or others who know them may help teachers identify those who most need support. The emphasis on schools as a major setting to provide support and identify the need for referral to specialist mental health services means service commissioners, providers and practitioners could benefit from insight into how predictive a teacher's concern is of childhood mental health conditions and how this may vary with the type of disorder If teachers are not concerned about a child, practitioners can be reassured that there is unlikely to be a significant problem with their mental health, although this will be less certain in schools whose pupils are likely to have a higher than average levels of difficulty Teacher concerns do not necessarily differentiate between clinically impairing and mild/ moderate mental health difficulties, but do identify children in poorer mental health Asking for corroboration of concern from other sources increases the strength of the association to severe mental health disorders.

Personal Relative Deprivation and Mental Health Among University Students: Cross‐sectional and Longitudinal Evidence

AbstractColleges and universities are a unique context in which students encounter similar aged peers from a wide range of economic backgrounds. As emerging adults coping with major life transitions, students may be especially sensitive to upward contrasts with other students who have advantages that they feel they deserve (personal relative deprivation or PRD). We surveyed a population of university students when they were second‐ and third‐year students (N = 309), and 2 years later, when they were fourth‐ and fifth‐year students (N = 400). Increased PRD predicted increased anxiety and depression—even after accounting for students’ access to social support, the degree to which they identified with the university, and their gender, family income, ethnic background, and whether the student was a first‐generation college student. For a third separate sample of students who completed both surveys (N = 168), PRD predicted students’ mental health two years later even after accounting for their earlier anxiety and depression. In all three samples, PRD mediated the relationship between self‐reported family income and mental health. These data indicate that universities and colleges should consider a broad range of interventions and policies that can mitigate the impact of upward social contrasts.

Personality and anxiety are related to health-related quality of life in unruptured intracranial aneurysm patients selected for non-intervention: A cross sectional study.

BackgroundPersonality traits and mental health problems have been previously reported in unruptured intracranial aneurysm (UIA) patients; however, few studies have clarified the relations between these variables and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study was designed to characterize the personality traits, HRQoL and mental health of patients with UIA and to evaluate whether personality has an influence on HRQoL and whether this is mediated by the patients' emotional symptoms.MethodsSixty-three patients with UIAs (mean age 62.6 years, 83.9% women) answered questionnaires for depression, anxiety, HRQoL and personality traits between June 2016 and May 2019.ResultsEight percent of the sample had depression, and 27.4% had anxiety. Participants showed high levels of responsibility, kindness and neuroticism and low levels of extraversion and openness. HRQoL scores were normal compared with the Colombian population. Structural equation analysis showed that patients' HRQoL was negatively affected by anxiety levels and that the latter are associated with the patient's personality, where neuroticism is directly associated with symptomatology and inversely associated with extraversion.ConclusionsThe results of this study showed the importance of personality and emotional symptoms in the HRQoL of UIA patients. These results are important for developing strategies for psychological counseling in patients with UIAs.

Sleep disturbance mediates the association of adverse childhood experiences with mental health symptoms and functional impairment in US soldiers.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have long-term impacts on a person's mental health, which extend into adulthood. There is a high prevalence of ACEs among service members. Further, service members also report frequently experiencing disrupted sleep. We hypothesized that disrupted sleep may serve a mechanistic function connecting ACEs to functional impairment and poorer mental health. In a cross-sectional sample (n=759), we found evidence for an indirect effect of ACEs on mental health outcomes through disrupted sleep. In a different sample using two time-points (n=410), we found evidence for an indirect effect of ACEs on changes in mental health outcomes and functional impairment during a reset period, through changes in disrupted sleep during the same period. Implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Anxiety Specific Mental Health Stigma and Help-Seeking in Adolescent Males

Stigmatising attitudes towards mental illness are an established barrier to help-seeking in adolescent males with anxiety. This study aimed to investigate specific forms of personal mental health stigma elicited in response to vignettes of individuals with clinical and non-clinical symptoms of anxiety within a sample of Australian adolescent males. The relationship between stigma and mental health help seeking was also investigated. Seven hundred and two males (aged 12–18 years) completed a vignette-based mental health literacy survey and measures of help-seeking attitudes, intentions and behaviour online. Open-response items were coded for frequency, intensity and form of stigma. A larger percentage of participants exhibited stigma in response to the non-clinical vignette than in response to the non-clinical vignettes. Stigmatising comments towards the non-clinical vignette were also found to be more severe than towards the clinical vignettes. When stigma occured, it was predominantly related to a belief that a mental disorder was due to a personal weakness. Individuals who used stigmatising comments were also more likely to have negative views towards help-seeking. Yet individuals who made stigmatising comments about a peer with clinical social anxiety were more likely to have previously sought mental health help. It is uncommon for adolescent males to hold stigmatising views towards other adolescent males with clinical levels of anxiety. More severe stigma is evident in response to experiences of normative levels of anxiety in response to an event which would typically be considered mildly anxiety-provoking (leaving home to go to university). Implications for youth mental health initiatives targeting help-seeking for anxiety in adolescent males are discussed.

Is self-directed mental health recovery relevant for children and young people?

Consumer-directed, personal recovery-oriented mental health services are now the focus of mental health policies around the globe. However, there has been minimal debate about how the approach applies to young people. This study sought to address this gap through a Delphi approach, using three rounds of surveys, to gain a convergence of opinion from Australian Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) practitioners regarding the relevance of personal recovery for children and adolescents. The findings suggest that concepts of personal recovery are appropriate for a young population. However, parents and carers are integral to the mental health recovery journeys of young people, either directly as guardian/decision-maker and/or indirectly through the impact of caring for a young person with mental health problems. Further exploration of the relevance and application of personal recovery in the context of young people is warranted, particularly from the perspectives of adolescents, younger children and carers of young people with mental health problems.