Psychological Self-care Research Articles

Cognitive and behavioral weight management strategies during the menopausal transition: Insights from the Menopause and Weight Loss (ME-WEL) project

ObjectiveMost women experience weight gain during the menopausal transition, often attributed to behavioral factors. Nevertheless, some women successfully maintain a healthy weight during this phase. This study aims to identify the successful cognitive and behavioral weight management strategies employed by postmenopausal women who effectively maintained a healthy weight during the menopausal transition (from premenopause to postmenopause). MethodSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 Portuguese postmenopausal women, aged 45–65 years (mean and standard deviation 54.06 ± 5.51) who successfully maintained a healthy weight (body mass index: 18.5 kg/m2–24.9 kg/m2) during the menopausal transition. The interviews were conducted via telephone (n = 29) and Zoom (n = 2), based on the participant's preference, and ranged from 11 to 52 min (22.06 ± 9.95). Using MAXQDA software, deductive-dominant content analysis of the interviews was performed. The Interface of R for the Multidimensional Analyses of Texts and Questionnaire software was used for lexical analysis. ResultsThe qualitative analysis of cognitive and behavioral strategies for successful weight management yielded 17 categories and 37 sub-categories. Effective cognitive and behavioral strategies (e.g., planning content, stimulus control, support: help from others) were identified, mostly aligning with the Oxford Food and Activity Behaviors Taxonomy. Five new categories emerged: dietary choices, intuitive eating, food literacy, psychological self-care, and effortful inhibition. ConclusionKnowing effective cognitive and behavioral weight management strategies for menopausal women is relevant, especially considering their status as a high-risk group. This knowledge provides a valuable guide for designing weight management interventions, emphasizing the essential role of behavioral change.

Quality of Professional Life in Medical Students: The Roles of Psychological Self-care, Anxiety, and Depression

Background: Medical students often experience high levels of psychological stress, which can significantly impact their professional lives. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the quality of professional life among medical students and the influence of psychological self-care and resilience on both professional quality of life and psychological distress among medical clerks and interns at Babol University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive-cross-sectional study, conducted from May to September 2022, included 270 medical trainees from Babol University of Medical Sciences (Babol, Iran). Participants had not taken academic leave in the past year nor transferred to another university. They completed online questionnaires covering resilience, psychological self-care, quality of professional life, and psychological distress, along with demographic details such as age, gender, and marital status. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Results indicated a generally favorable quality of professional life among the students, characterized by low compassion fatigue (mean 17.43 ± 7.87 out of 36) and low psychological burnout (mean 15.34 ± 4.10 out of 24), but moderate compassion satisfaction (mean 34.52 ± 8.13 out of 50). Additionally, mean scores for depression (7.84 ± 3.50 out of 21) and anxiety (7.24 ± 3.76 out of 21) were low. Students demonstrated above-average psychological self-care (mean 127.47 ± 17.97 out of 180) but had low resilience against stress (mean 24.12 ± 5.28 out of 38). Regression analysis revealed that psychological self-care significantly influenced the quality of professional life (P < 0.001, β = 0.318). Furthermore, age (P < 0.001, β = 0.299), female gender (P = 0.013, β = -0.136), and self-care (P < 0.001, β = -0.327) significantly affected levels of anxiety and depression. Conclusions: Psychological self-care plays a crucial role in enhancing the quality of professional life and in mitigating anxiety and depression among medical clerks and interns.

Transforming guided internet interventions into simplified and self-guided digital tools – Experiences from three recent projects

IntroductionTherapist-guided internet interventions are often more efficacious than unguided ones. However, the guidance itself requires clinician time, and some research suggests that self-guided interventions could potentially be equally effective. The concept of digital psychological self-care, self-guided internet interventions based on the use of digital tools and provided within a structured clinical process, is presented. MethodsThree new self-care interventions, a sleep diary-based intervention for insomnia, an alcohol diary-based intervention for problematic alcohol use and an intervention with exposure and mindfulness tools for atopic dermatitis (eczema), were developed. Newly developed digital self-care interventions were compared to the earlier therapist-guided interventions they were based on, using published results from three feasibility trials (n's = 30, 36 and 21) and three randomized trials (n's = 148, 166 and 102). The comparison included type of content, duration, length of written material and within-group effect-sizes. ResultsIn comparison to the guided interventions, clinician time was greatly reduced and the new interventions involved much less reading for participants. The digital self-care tools also showed within-group effect sizes and response rates on par with the more comprehensive guided internet interventions. DiscussionPreliminary results suggest that some guided internet interventions can be transformed into self-guided digital tools. These three examples show that digital psychological self-care, if provided with telephone interviews before and after the intervention, can be viable alternatives to more comprehensive guided internet interventions. Although these examples are promising, further studies, including randomized experiments, are needed to compare treatment efficacies, and to identify which groups of patients may need more comprehensive guided internet interventions.

“I Don’t Want my Job to Take over my Life”: Psychological Self-Care Perspectives of Early-Career Social Workers in the Field of Migration in Turkey

The aim of the study was to examine the experiences of early career social workers in the field of migration regarding psychological self-care. Three focus groups were conducted with nine social workers who were registered with the Migration Study Commission of the Turkish Association of Social Workers. The data were analyzed using MAXQDA. The analysis is presented through four themes: the motivations for working in the field of migration, the experiences of working in this field, the strategies for psychological self-care, and the recommendations for psychological self-care. The findings show that the caseload of early career social workers is high, they face the language barrier, and there is no effective supervision system. Individual and institutional strategies are used to provide psychological self-care. It can be recommended to reduce the workload, improve the supervision system, implement mindfulness activities, and provide access to mental health services in promoting psychological self-care of early career social workers in the field of migration.

Eating alone as psychological self-care: How the younger generation in Let’s Eat survives in neoliberal South Korea

TV dramas that focus on food and eating reflect the popular trend of single culture, with a rising number of single-person households among the younger generation in South Korea. Analyzing Let’s Eat (tvN), the South Korean food drama series that specifically focus on eating scenes, this paper uses the framework of survivalism and the popular discourse of healing to examine how eating alone as a social and cultural phenomenon represents the psychological turn in neoliberalism. In its three seasons, Let’s Eat reflects how eating alone becomes a practice of endurance and resilience that encourages the younger generation to stay positive, even during an enervated state of mind, to bounce back, and to ultimately spring forward. I argue that Let’s Eat reflects how survivalism especially requires the marginalized population of women in precarious employment to reflect and grow confidence without considering the problems of structural inequality. Let’s Eat shows the younger generation’s struggle and lack of societal support, perpetuating neoliberalism’s focus on individual effort and blaming individuals for their enervation.

Digital psychological self-care for problematic alcohol use: feasibility of a new clinical concept.

Digital interventions based on cognitive-behavioural therapy and relapse prevention can increase treatment access for people with problematic alcohol use, but for these interventions to be cost-effective, clinician workload needs to remain low while ensuring patient adherence and effects. Digital psychological self-care is the provision of a self-guided digital intervention within a structured care process. To investigate the feasibility and preliminary effects of digital psychological self-care for reducing alcohol consumption. Thirty-six adults with problematic alcohol use received digital psychological self-care during 8 weeks, including telephone assessments as well as filling out self-rated questionnaires, before, directly after and 3 months after the intervention. Intervention adherence, usefulness, credibility and use of clinician time were assessed, along with preliminary effects on alcohol consumption. The study was prospectively registered as a clinical trial (NCT05037630). Most participants used the intervention daily or several times a week. The digital intervention was regarded as credible and useful, and there were no reported adverse effects. Around 1 h of clinician time per participant was spent on telephone assessments. At the 3-month follow-up, preliminary within-group effects on alcohol consumption were moderate (standardised drinks per week, Hedge's g = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.19-1.21; heavy drinking days, Hedge's g = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.09-1.11), reflecting a decrease from 23 to 13 drinks per week on average. Digital psychological self-care for reducing alcohol consumption appears both feasible and preliminarily effective and should be further optimised and studied in larger trials.

Quality of Professional Life and Its Association with Emotional Well-Being among COVID-19 Physicians and Nurses.

The present study was to compare the professional quality of life (ProQOL) and its association with the emotional well-being among the physicians and nurses in contact with COVID-19 patients in Iran and France. The study was performed on 903 nurses and physicians in contact with COVID-19 patients in Iran and France.he subjects completed their demographics online and then answered questions addressing their job stress and emotion associated with their contact with COVID-19 patients and ProQOL. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using the SPSS software (ver. 25). According to the results of the present study, the degree of contact with COVID-19 patients had a significant role in compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue, with the coefficient effects of 0.459, 0.688, and 0.433, respectively (P < 0.05). The emotional well-being had a significant role in increasing compassion satisfaction (B = 0.505, P < 0.05). According to the results of the present study, factors such as contact with a COVID-19 patient, emotional well-being, gender, and marital status had a significant effect on dimensions of ProQOL in both Iran and France. Considering that the entire focus of the physicians and nurses is on the health of COVID-19 patients and they have no concentration on improving their emotional state, it seems that supporting them in terms of psychological self-care and considering its indirect impact on the quality of professional performance are of particular significance.

Regression of Self-care Practices on Reducing Burnout among Public High School Teachers of Laguna, Philippines

Most teachers experience a fair share of job stress and pressure at their workplace. Being burnt out has always influenced a teacher’s self-efficacy and productivity at work. This study investigated the level of self-care and burnout among high school teachers and the predictive nature of self-care on burnout. A stratified clustered sample of secondary public school teachers across five City Schools Divisions of Laguna, Philippines, voluntarily participated. The study employed a descriptive correlational research design to address the research questions. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the Self-care Assessment Worksheet, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator Survey were used to collect information through an online platform. The results showed that the teachers expressed high levels of physical, emotional, spiritual, and workplace self-care practices and a moderate level of psychological self-care. Across burnout dimensions, the teachers are experiencing moderate levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Correlation analysis established significant relationships between all dimensions of self-care and personal accomplishment. Regression analysis revealed the predictive ability of workplace self-care practices on personal accomplishment. The findings presented implications and provided recommendations.

The role of psychological self-care on worry of vaccination against COVID-19 in Iranian pregnant women: A cross-sectional study.

Background and AimsAlthough previous studies have reported some psychological factors to prevent the worry of vaccination against COVID‐19 in pregnant women, the role of psychological self‐care is unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the role of psychological self‐care in pregnant women on the depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and worry of vaccination against COVID‐19.MethodsThe present cross‐sectional study was conducted during the peak of the Delta variant of COVID‐19 in Babol city (North, Iran) from August to November 2021. Two hundred pregnant women referring to three prenatal clinics completed five questionnaires including; demographic characteristics, Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, psychological self‐care, brief symptom inventory 18, corona disease anxiety scale, and acceptance of vaccination‐3 inventory.ResultsPregnant women were in relatively good condition based on psychological self‐care but were not significantly associated with demographic characteristics, such as age, gestational age, educational background, pregnancy, and risk of parity. It was psychological self‐care of pregnant women which negatively predicted the depressive symptoms (β = −0.311, p < 0.001), anxiety symptoms (β = −0.269, p < 0.001), psychological distress (β = −0.269, p < 0.001), and worry of vaccination against COVID‐19 (β = −0.214, p < 0.001).ConclusionWomen's psychological self‐care plays a protective role against the depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, psychological distress, and worry of vaccination against COVID‐19 during pregnancy. Clinicians need to pay more attention to the role of psychological self‐care as an important factor in preventing the symptoms of anxiety and depression during regular pregnancy visits.

Design and validation of the Self-Care Behaviors Scale

Self-care constitutes a series of actions and behavior that contributes to individuals life, health and well-being maintenance and represents a relevant construct in diverse psychological areas. The purpose of this study is to develop the Self-Care Behaviors Scales and evaluate its psychometric properties. The sample included 235 individuals (M= 29.11 years, SD= 10.53) from northern Mexico. To analyze the structure, a factorial exploratory analysis, revealed the existence of three factors (physical self-care, psychological self-care, spiritual self-care) that would explain 54% of total covariance. A three-factor analysis of covariance allowed adequate goodness-of-fit indices and the calculation of the mean variance extracted. The scale obtained evidence of convergent and discriminant validity. The internal consistency indices of the total score and the subscales were high (between .93 to .96). The significant correlation between these factors with personal variables provided evidence of the concurrent validity of the scale.

Factors Associated with Self-Esteem, Resilience, Mental Health, and Psychological Self-Care Among University Students in Northern Thailand.

BackgroundThe severity of mental health issues among university students in rural areas can affect the outcomes of their studies. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with self-esteem, resilience, mental health, and psychological self-care among university students.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey of 729 undergraduate students by a self-administered questionnaire. Using convenience sampling, the participants were chosen from four majoring in Public Health at University of Phayao in Northern Thailand.ResultsApproximately 82% of university students had mental health problem. Backward logistic regression analysis showed that 1) a good relationship with family had a significantly positive effect on self-esteem (p-value <0.05); 2) a good relationship with friends was significantly associated with high resilience (p-value <0.05); 3) having a disease/s and a relationship with family had a significant effect on mental health problem (p-value <0.05); 4) being female, perceived normal weight, and a good relationship with family were significantly related to high psychological self-care (p-value <0.05).ConclusionGender, incurrent disease, perceived weight status, relationship with friends and family were associated with self-esteem, resilience, mental health, and psychological self-care among university students. Our findings can be incorporated in a support policy and integrated into the public health curriculum. University administrators and faculty have an opportunity to formulate an intervention program and provide services that could mitigate mental health problems and improve the well-being of students at their university.

Eating behaviors of American adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

The objective was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on eating behaviors of a cross section of the US adult population. Participants (N=844) completed a survey via Amazon Mechanical Turk which evaluated frequency of consumption of five food categories - mixed dishes, salty, sweet, creamy foods and beverages during perceived stress. Physical, emotional and psychological self-care and demographics were also collected. Males eating behaviors especially mixed dishes, sweet foods, and creamy foods decreased when stressed. However, in females there was an increase in the consumption of sweet and creamy foods. When compared to their counterpart, there was a reduction in food choices among minorities and Hispanics. Participants with higher BMI had increased eating behaviors of mixed dishes, salty, and sweet foods. The physical self-care scale revealed there was limited consumption of sweet foods but the psychological self-care demonstrated that there was an increase in creamy food intake

The psychological trait among fitness center goers during home quarantine and its relationship to the body mass index

Background: The Corona pandemic imposed on the countries of the world to take many strict measures to limit the spread of this virus, as home quarantine. Objective: this study aimed to identify the psychological aspects level among the fitness center goers during home quarantine and the differences in these aspects level according to the gender variable. As well as, the relationship between the psychological stress and motivation level, in addition, to the relationship between some psychological aspects and the body mass index, finally the differences in the body mass index before and after home quarantine. Design: To achieve this, the researchers used the descriptive approach on a sample consisting of (510), selected using randomly sample technique with the average age of (24±2.6) years. Because of the home quarantine and to reduce face-to-face interaction, the researchers used a questionnaire by using the Google form. The study tool consisted of (11) paragraphs associated with stress and (11) paragraphs associated with motivation. The researchers used means, standard deviations, paired and independent sample T-test by using SPSS version 24 with a confidence level of 95% (p value &lt; 0.05). Results: The results of the study have shown that the psychological stress level among the study sample came with a high average (4.03) and moderate average (2.83) for motivation domain without any statistically significant differences according to the gender variable. As well as, a statistically significant association between the level of psychological stress and motivational in males and females with a higher percentage of body mass index (BMI) for males and females after home quarantine and a higher percentage of females. While the results of the study showed a statistically significant correlation between psychological aspects and body mass index. Conclusion: In light of these results, the urgent need to activate the role and importance of psychological self-care for individuals during home quarantine and work to find a balance between leisure time and other life activities.

Pediatric nurses' perceptions of preparedness for global health fieldwork.

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive research study was to understand the current state, perceived content, and experiential needs of pediatric nurses preparing for global health (GH) fieldwork experience. This study aimed to inform stakeholders about the standard and unique preparation needs of pediatric GH nurses. One group and five individual interviews were held with nurses from a large pediatric quaternary care facility in the Northeast United States. Data from the interviews were transcribed verbatim, eliminating personal data. Only deidentified transcripts were used for data analysis. Members of the study team used content analysis to systematically code and analyze the data. Qualitative content analysis revealed five categories: (1) identifying clear objectives, (2) understanding the practice environment, (3) self-assessment of clinical skills, cultural competencies, and adaptability, (4) safety and logistics planning, and (5) psychological self-care and reentry anticipatory guidance. Findings can provide a basis for program planning to prepare pediatric nurses for GH fieldwork. Program planning must account for the unique features of the site and situation. Organizational and personal preparation can influence the perceived success of the GH experience.

Perceived Stress and Burnout : The Mediating Role of Psychological, Professional Self-Care and Job Satisfaction as Preventive Factors in Helping Professions

Background: Stress and burnout are among the common causes of absenteeism and fluctu - ation of staff in European workplaces. Therefore, the demand for understanding the predictors of burnout in high risk professions has been growing. The aim of this study is to explore the link between perceived stress and the three dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) while considering the potential mediating role of self-care and job satisfaction that may prevent the transformation of stress into burnout. Methods: A randomly selected group of Slovak social service professionals (N = 689; 618 women) from institutions in 8 districts in Slovakia described their levels of perceived stress, burnout, performed self-care and job satisfaction in self-reported questionnaires. Results: The relationship between stress and emotional exhaustion is solely mediated by certain aspects of job satisfaction: salary, nature of work, and operating procedures. The relationship between stress and depersonalization is mediated by the nature of work, psychological self-care, and professional self-care. However, professional self-care does not prevent but rather facilitates the development of depersonalization in times of high perceived stress. The relationship between stress and personal accomplishment is mediated by psychological and professional self-care as well as by three factors of job satisfaction: co-workers, nature of work and job benefits. When stress increases, satisfaction with co-workers and nature of work prevent the decrease of personal accomplishment. However, job benefits, with increasing stress, may be related to a decrease in personal accomplishment at work. Conclusion: Satisfaction with salary, nature of work, operating procedures and co-workers as well as psychological self-care may prevent the further development of burnout in times of high stress. Yet, professional self-care and job benefits may, in times of increased stress, potentially lead towards specific aspects of burnout (depersonalization and reduction of personal accomplishment).

The mediating role of self-care activities in the stress-burnout relationship

BackgroundHelping professionals suffer from a number of health and psychological difficulties resulting from their occupa-tion. In the field of helping professions, the demand for understanding the predictors of burnout has been rapid-ly emerging. The aim of this study is to analyse and identify the possible mediators between stress and the three factors of burnout in a specific sample of helping professionals.Participants and procedureHelpers (N = 698; 618 women) were randomly selected from institutions in 8 districts in Slovakia. The sample comprised social workers (n = 188); residential care providers (n = 191); ergotherapists (n = 97); providers of physical and psychological care (nurses, physiotherapists, psychologist and psychotherapists; n = 222). They described their levels of perceived stress, risk of burnout (in three factors: emotional exhaustion, depersonali-sation, and personal accomplishment) and performed self-care activities in self-reported questionnaires.ResultsThe relationship between stress and emotional exhaustion was mediated by health self-care. In comparison, the relationship between stress and depersonalisation was mediated by psychological self-care. The relation-ship between stress and personal accomplishment was mediated by both psychological and professional self-care.ConclusionsWhen helping professionals have initial symptoms of burnout in the form of emotional exhaustion, concentrat-ing on health self-care activities could be helpful. Performing health, psychological and professional self-care activities may prevent further development of burnout in times of high stress.

Physical and Psychological Self-Care Assessment for Disabled clients attending Emergency Management Center in Erbil City

Background: The World Health Organization's (WHO) framework for measuring health for disability at both levels physical and psychological activities including self-care, attending to one's hygiene, dressing, and eating, also interpersonal interactions and relationships, and social relationships, especially family relationships. Objectives: This study aims to identify and assess the self care activities for disabled patients, and to identify the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and physical and psychological factors. Methodology: The study is Descriptive study, the study sample were 51 disabled clients who had been attended to emergency management center, the study start in 1/7/2014 to 1/2/2015, Constructed questionnaires were used to obtain the feedback, and interview was used as methods of data collection and data was analyzed using SPSS version 18. Results: The mean age of the participants was (36.66) years. Results revealed that feedback responses as a generalwas good in all factors underline the study, and the lowest score for physical self care was in items related to abilityto do sexual activity while for psychological factors was for item related to concern of having any own personalpsychotherapy . Conclusion: the study concluded that Self care assessment outcomes for disabled were positive for the most of thephysical factors except for sexual intercourse while the psychological self care assessment were negative in manyfactors including haven't own personal psychotherapy, not engage in any intelligence in new area, and ability to read favorite books Recommendation: The study recommended establishing rehabilitation centers for training disabled about physicaland psychological care and informing these negative factors to the emergency management center so the information gained of self care assessment could lead to changes in some of physical and psychological aspect of disabled clients

How Google's 'ten Things We Know To Be True' could guide the development of mental health mobile apps.

From 2011 to 2030, mental health conditions are projected to cost the global economy $16trillion through lost labor and capital output. The gold standard of psychological interventions, one-on-one therapy, is too costly and too labor-intensive to keep up with the projected growth in demand for mental health services. Therefore, new solutions are needed to improve the efficiency of mental health care delivery and to increase patient self-care. Because 85percent of the world's population has wireless signal coverage, there is an unprecedented opportunity for mobile technologies to incorporate psychological self-care into people's daily lives and relieve workforce shortages. In this article, we suggest that policy makers look to technology innovators for guidance. For example, Google's principles, called "Ten Things We Know To Be True," are useful for understanding the drivers of success in mobile technologies. For principles such as "focus on the user and all else will follow," we identify examples of how evidence-based mobile mental health technologies could increase patient self-care and reduce the demand for one-on-one psychological intervention.

Interprofessional non-technical skills for surgeons in disaster response: a literature review

Natural disasters impose a significant burden on society. Current disaster training programmes do not place an emphasis on equipping surgeons with non-technical skills for disaster response. This literature review sought to identify non-technical skills required of surgeons in disaster response through an examination of four categories of literature: “disaster"; “surgical”; “organisational management”; and “interprofessional”. Literature search criteria included electronic database searches, internet searches, hand searching, ancestry searching and networking strategies. Various potential non-technical skills for surgeons in disaster response were identified including: interpersonal skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership; cognitive strategies such flexibility, adaptability, innovation, improvisation and creativity; physical and psychological self-care; conflict management, collaboration, professionalism, health advocacy and teaching. Such skills and the role of interprofessionalism should be considered for inclusion in surgical disaster response training course curricula.

Interprofessional non-technical skills for surgeons in disaster response: A qualitative study of the Australian perspective

Interprofessional non-technical skills for surgeons in disaster response have not yet been developed. The aims of this study were to identify the non-technical skills required of surgeons in disaster response and training for disaster response and to explore the barriers and facilitators to interprofessional practice in surgical teams responding to disasters. Twenty health professionals, with prior experience in natural disaster response or education, participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. A qualitative matrix analysis design was used to thematically analyze the data. Non-technical skills for surgeons in disaster response identified in this study included skills for austere environments, cognitive strategies and interprofessional skills. Skills for austere environments were physical self-care including survival skills, psychological self-care, flexibility, adaptability, innovation and improvisation. Cognitive strategies identified in this study were “big picture” thinking, situational awareness, critical thinking, problem solving and creativity. Interprofessional attributes include communication, team-player, sense of humor, cultural competency and conflict resolution skills. “Interprofessionalism” in disaster teams also emerged as a key factor in this study and incorporated elements of effective teamwork, clear leadership, role adjustment and conflict resolution. The majority of participants held the belief that surgeons needed training in non-technical skills in order to achieve best practice in disaster response. Surgeons considerring becoming involved in disaster management should be trained in these skills, and these skills should be incorporated into disaster preparation courses with an interprofessional focus.