scholarly journals Comparing the Impact of Youth Violence upon Mental Health Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic vs the Effects of a Violence Prevention Program in a Cohort of Students in Gary, IN.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deeb Omari ◽  
Michael McGee
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Violence Prevention ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Exposure To Violence ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Gary Indiana ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

Background/Objective: Violence (arguments, fights, sometimes gunshots) and bullying (interpersonal, online, social media) are prevalent in schools all across the country. This exposure may cause damaging effects on youth mental health. Project Outreach and Prevention (POP) on Youth Violence, promotes a message of violence prevention through workshops and events that promote conflict resolution, unity, and positive behaviors while inspiring healthy lifestyles and accessible career opportunities. We hypothesize that exposure to violence and bullying may lead to increased self-reports of anxiety, difficulty coping, or depression among adolescents.  Methods: In a prospective study, 7th and 8th grade students at Bailly Preparatory Academy and 9th and 10th graders at Westside Leadership Academy will be digitally surveyed. This survey will determine their level of exposure to violence and bullying and if they report experiencing symptoms of anxiety, difficulty coping, or depression as a result. We will also determine if the lifestyle changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has increased youth violence, as well as, the location of where students experience bullying and violence. Lastly, we hope to examine if students who are adversely affected have access to mental health care.  Results:  Surveys will be distributed during the fall. Survey responses will be analyzed to examine correlations between exposure to violence and self-reported anxiety, difficulty coping, or depression, as well as, access to care.  Conclusion and Potential Impact:  Violence and bullying are prevalent at specific schools in Gary, Indiana. We will learn how much an adolescent’s mental health is affected by this before and during the COVID Pandemia. This information will raise awareness about the psychological effects of violence and bullying. It will also help school administrators to implement programs and resources that can be used to help with their student’s mental health.  

Youth violence and mental health: repeating exposures

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Ángel Oscós-Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
Exposure To Violence ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Repeated Testing ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discover and describe salient repeating and less common features of the recent medical literature about youth violence as it relates to mental health. How the relationship between youth violence and mental health is commonly conceptualized, investigated, and reported is summarized. Negative cases, unique approaches, and concepts are discussed. Design/methodology/approach An Ovid Medline literature search was conducted with the search parameters of “adolescent and violence” and “psychiatry or psychology or mental health.” In total, 66 articles met inclusion criteria and were analyzed using grounded theory procedures and techniques. Findings In all, 49 articles were reports of original research, 14 were literature reviews, and three were editorials. The articles included discussions of youth violence and mental health among young people in 49 countries. Most original research used cross-sectional designs that tested and supported the core hypothesis that greater exposure to violence is associated with more mental health issues. The relationship is robust even though characterizations of “exposure to violence” and “mental health” were highly variable. Meta-analytic and intervention studies were rare. Originality/value The core feature of the last decade of medical research has been the repeated testing and confirmation that a relationship between exposure to violence and mental health exists. Future youth violence research should move beyond continuing to test this hypothesis with cross-sectional study designs.

scholarly journals Youth Exposure to Violence in an Urban Setting

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Seal ◽  
Annie Nguyen ◽  
Kirsten Beyer
Keyword(s):  
Violence Prevention ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Exposure To Violence ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
At Risk Youth ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Spatial Inequalities

To inform a city-wide youth Violence Prevention Initiative, we explored youth narratives about their exposure to violence to gain insight into their understanding of the causes and effects of violence in their communities. At-risk youth were recruited through street outreach for individual interviews and focus group sessions. Types of experiential violence identified included (1) street, (2) family/interpersonal, (3) school, (4) indirect exposure (e.g., neighborhood crime), and (5) prejudice/discrimination. Reactions ranged from motivating positive effects (resilience, determination to escape) to negative effects (fear, paranoia, and aggression). For some, experiences with violence motivated them to pursue educational achievement and positive lifestyles. Causes of violence were described by participants as existing at a number of different levels (societal, neighborhood, interpersonal, and individual), reflecting a social-ecological perspective. Our findings highlight a need for violence prevention efforts that focus on a broad definition of violence, as well as on the poly-victimization of children and youth. At the same time, our findings highlight the challenges of conducting effective community-based prevention programs in urban settings characterized by spatial inequalities and social exclusion of community residents.

scholarly journals Wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: a secondary data analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen Murphy ◽  
Mark Elliot
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
National Level ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: In March 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic the UK government declared a national lockdown where citizens were required to stay at home. The impact of this lockdown on levels of well-being has been a source of concern for citizens and mental health professionals.Objectives: We investigated the trajectory of well-being over the course of the ?first wave and sought to determine whether the change in well-being is distributed equally across the population. Speci?fically we investigated pre-existing medical conditions, social isolation, ?financial stress and deprivation as a predictor for well-being and whether there were community level characteristics which protect against poorer well-being.Methods: Using online survey responses from the COVID19 modules of Understanding society, we linked 8,379 English cases across ?five waves of data collection to location based deprivation statistics. We used ordinary least squares regression to estimate the association between deprivation, pre-existing conditions and socio-demographic factors and the change in well-being scores over time, as measured by the GHQ-12 questionnaire.Results: A decline in well-being was observed at the beginning of the fi?rst lock down period at the beginning of March 2020. This was matched with a corresponding recovery between April and July as restrictions were gradually lifted. There was no association between the decline and deprivation, nor between deprivation and recovery. The strongest predictor of well-being during the lockdown, was the baseline score, with the counterintuitive finding that for those will pre-existing poor well-being, the impact of pandemic restrictions on mental health were minimal, but for those who had previously felt well, the restrictions and the impact of the pandemic on well-being were much greater.Conclusion: These data show no evidence of a social gradient in well-being related to the pandemic. In fact, wellbeing was shown to be highly elastic in this period indicating a national level of resilience which cut across the usually observed health inequalities.

scholarly journals Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Quality of Life among Local Residents in Liaoning Province, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingfei Zhang ◽  
Zheng Feei Ma
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Liaoning Province ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
Validated Questionnaire ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

Our study aimed to investigate the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and quality of life among local Chinese residents aged ≥18 years in Liaoning Province, mainland China. An online survey was distributed through a social media platform between January and February 2020. Participants completed a modified validated questionnaire that assessed the Impact of Event Scale (IES), indicators of negative mental health impacts, social and family support, and mental health-related lifestyle changes. A total of 263 participants (106 males and 157 females) completed the study. The mean age of the participants was 37.7 ± 14.0 years, and 74.9% had a high level of education. The mean IES score in the participants was 13.6 ± 7.7, reflecting a mild stressful impact. Only 7.6% of participants had an IES score ≥26. The majority of participants (53.3%) did not feel helpless due to the pandemic. On the other hand, 52.1% of participants felt horrified and apprehensive due to the pandemic. Additionally, the majority of participants (57.8–77.9%) received increased support from friends and family members, increased shared feeling and caring with family members and others. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with mild stressful impact in our sample, even though the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing. These findings would need to be verified in larger population studies.

scholarly journals Psychological responses and lifestyle changes among pregnant women with respect to the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
pp. 002076402095211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingfei Zhang ◽  
Zheng Feei Ma
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Maternal Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
The Impact

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a profound impact on health and well-being of populations. However, there are limited studies that have investigated the psychological aspects of vulnerable groups including pregnant women amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we aimed to assess the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among Chinese pregnant women from February 2020 until March 2020. Methods: Our study was conducted using a modified validated online questionnaire comprising of sociodemographic, the Impact of Event Scale (IES), attitude and mental health-related questions towards COVID-19. Results: A total of 560 women were included. The overall mean age and IES of women was 25.8 ± 2.7 years and 31.4 ± 13.7. Moreover, 67.1% of them had IES ⩾26. Psychological impact seemed to be more severe in women in second trimester of pregnancy (the highest IES) ( p = .016). There was a significant association between trimesters of pregnancy and some indicators of negative health impacts (including increased stress from work, increased stress from home, feeling apprehensive and helpless during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic) (all p < .05). Conclusions: Our results reported moderate-to-severe stressful impact among Chinese pregnant women. We recommend that appropriate measures should be taken to address the maternal mental health issues.

scholarly journals The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health: Evidence from Cyprus

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 3868
Author(s):  
Marilena Mousoulidou ◽  
Michailina Siakalli ◽  
Andri Christodoulou ◽  
Marios Argyrides
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Mental Health Questionnaire ◽  
The Impact

The aim of the current study was to examine mental health effects of the first wave of COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease-19) in Cyprus. Accordingly, 388 individuals aged 18–65+ responded to the Components of Mental Health Questionnaire that was distributed via social media for two weeks assessing how emotional distress, support and interest in self and others, lifestyle changes, engagement in protective measures, and avoidant behaviors were related to participants’ gender, age, and place of residency. Additionally, we measured the level of concern of individuals during and after the first wave outbreak of the pandemic. The results suggest that (a) females experience higher levels of anxiety, stress, fear, worry, and despair than males and are more likely to undertake protective measures, (b) older individuals and those who live in urban areas perceive greater social support and interest in the emotional experience of significant others, (c) emotional distress and support and interest in self and others are associated with all other variables, indicating the importance of these constructs to the experience of a pandemic, and (d) there was a decrease in participants’ concern after the end of the first wave of the pandemic. Mental health professionals could find this information useful when developing and implementing prevention programs that aim to offer psychological support during this stressful period.

Violence Prevention in Schools and Other Community Settings: The Pediatrician as Initiator, Educator, Collaborator, and Advocate

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-630
Author(s):  
Renee Wilson-Brewer ◽  
Howard Spivak
Keyword(s):  
Violence Prevention ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Prevention And Intervention ◽  
The Media ◽  
Multicomponent Program ◽  
Metal Detectors ◽  
School Police

Attention to the problem of youth violence has resulted in a proliferation of violence prevention and intervention strategies. Examined in this paper are those strategies that can be categorized as educational, environmental/technological, and recreational. In the educational category are conflict resolution and mediation, crime prevention and law-related education, handgun violence education, life skills training, self-esteem development, public education, and media education. The environmental/technological category covers a range of strategies: metal detectors, school police, concrete barriers, dress codes, and safe corridor programs, among othens. The rather broad recreational category is based upon the importance of physical activity as an outlet for stress and anger and as a component of a multicomponent program. Multi-intervention programs are described as well as some of the major gaps in current violence prevention programming. The suggested role of the pediatrician in violence prevention efforts is described as both initiator and collaborator, as counselor, and as advocate. Because of their great credibility with respect to issues related to children and youth, pediatricians can influence not only parents in their contacts with them in the health care setting, but also school administrators and community leaders. Pediatricians have access to the media, and they can speak to the issue in public forums as well. Furthermore, pediatricians can join existing community efforts to determine ways in which violence prevention and intervention strategies can be incorporated into agency activities.

scholarly journals The experiences of veterans with mental health problems participating in an occupational therapy and resilience workshop intervention: an exploratory study

2020 ◽  
pp. 030802262097781
Author(s):  
Hannah Vaughan-Horrocks ◽  
Carly Reagon ◽  
Alison Seymour
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Workshop Intervention ◽  
The Impact

Introduction Occupational therapy has long had a strong presence in military mental healthcare. Today’s veterans have complex needs and can face challenges reintegrating into civilian life. This exploratory study investigated whether veterans receiving mental health treatment who participated in a bespoke occupational therapy and resilience workshop intervention improved their perceived participation in everyday life. Method An interpretivist hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to explore veterans’ perspectives. Ten participants took part in two semistructured focus groups. Thematic analysis was used to identify and analyse patterns within the data. Findings Most participants developed occupational goals and started to make lifestyle changes; participants developed an appreciation of the value of occupation; participants developed insight into their recovery journeys; and value was placed on the ‘healing power’ of the group. Conclusion This exploratory study provides preliminary evidence to suggest occupational therapy was influential in helping participants understand the impact of occupation on health and start making lifestyle changes. Participants also reflected on their recovery journeys. The benefits of doing this within a group environment appear to have been particularly therapeutic. Original occupational therapy research in this specialism is sparse. This novel study provides insight that can further discussion and enhance understanding about what the profession can offer this client group.

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