Anxiety News

Association between mental health symptoms and behavioral performance in younger vs. older online workers

The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased rates of mental health problems, particularly in younger people. We quantified mental health of online workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and cognition during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020. A pre-registered data analysis plan was completed, testing the following three hypotheses: reward-related behaviors

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A Transdiagnostic group therapy for sleep and anxiety among adults with substance use disorders: Protocol and pilot investigation

Treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) is challenging with high rates of treatment dropout and relapse, particularly among individuals with comorbid psychiatric conditions. Anxiety and insomnia are prevalent among those with SUD and exacerbate poor treatment outcomes. Interventions that concurrently target anxiety and insomnia during the early stages of SUD treatment are lacking. To this

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Remote working and occupational stress: Effects on IT-enabled industry employees in Hyderabad Metro, India

In the present study, the researchers reported the results of an empirical study on remote working and occupational stress and their effects on employees’ job satisfaction, motivation, and performance. Remote working has three subscales: self-proficiency, technology, and teamwork. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation subscales were included to assess employee motivation. A simple random sampling method was used to select the subjects who are employees of the IT-enabled industries in Hyderabad Metro. A total of 513 responses were obtained on the remote working subscales—the effect on the independent variables, namely, employee self-proficiency, technology, teamwork, and occupational stress, on the dependent variables, namely, job satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and performance. The measured Cronbach’s alpha was in the range of 0.64–0.77, other reliability statistics split-half (odd-even) correlation was in the range of 0.62–0.84, and theSpearman–Brown prophecy was in the range of 0.70–0.91, demonstrating the reliability and internal consistency of the research instrument. The general linear model results indicated that all the independent variables, namely, self-proficiency, teamwork, and Occupational stress, are statistically significant and influence the outcome variables. The general linear model results also indicated statistically significant age differences in the dependent variables; however, there were no statistically significant gender differences. Of the independent variables, self-proficiency influences job satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and performance (p 

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Internalized homonegativity moderates the association between attachment avoidance and emotional intimacy among same-sex male couples

IntroductionThe present study aimed to examine dyadic associations between attachment insecurity and emotional intimacy in same-sex male couples, and to investigate whether and how each partner’s internalized homonegativity (IH) moderated these associations.MethodsThe sample included 138 same-sex male couples. Both dyad members completed self-report measures of attachment insecurity, emotional intimacy, and IH. The actor-partner interdependence model with moderation analysis was applied.ResultsIndicated that higher levels of actor’s and partner’s attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were associated with lower actor’s emotional intimacy. IH moderated the partner effects of attachment avoidance on emotional intimacy. The partner’s higher attachment avoidance was associated with one’s own lower emotional intimacy at low (but not high) levels of one’s own IH and at high (but not low) levels of the partner’s IH.DiscussionFindings suggest that the partner’s attachment avoidance may differently affect one’s own emotional intimacy depending on the IH levels of both dyad members. Helping partnered sexual minority men decrease attachment insecurity while recognizing their own and their partners’ IH may promote relationship quality.

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Development and psychometric properties of the Stressors in Breast Cancer Scale

BackgroundA diagnosis of breast cancer generates psychological stress, due not only to treatment and its side effects but also to the impact on different areas of the patient’s daily life. Although there are instruments for measuring psychological stress in the cancer context, there is currently no tool for assessing stressors specific to breast cancer.AimsThe aim of this study was to develop the Stressors in Breast Cancer Scale (SBCS).MethodA panel of experts evaluated the clarity and relevance of scale items, providing validity evidence based on test content. Psychometric properties of the scale were then analyzed.ResultsValidity evidence based on the internal structure of the SBCS was obtained through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), following a cross-validation strategy. The CFA supported a second-order factor model with five dimensions: physical appearance and sex strains, health and daily difficulties, interpersonal relationship strains, healthcare strains, and worries and concerns about the future. This structure was invariant across two groups distinguished by time from cancer diagnosis (less than 3 and 3 years or more from diagnosis). Reliability, based on McDonald’s omega and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, ranged from 0.83 to 0.89 for factor scores, and reached 0.95 for total scores. Validity evidence was also provided by correlations with depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and perceived health and quality of life.DiscussionThe results support the use of the SBCS for measuring stress as a stimulus in the breast cancer context. Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.

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Caregiving burden, depression, and anxiety among family caregivers of patients with cancer: An investigation of patient and caregiver factors

BackgroundCaring for patients with cancer can result in significant burden, anxiety, and depression among family caregivers, leading to alterations in their mental and physical wellbeing. Evidence on the level of cancer caregivers’ burden, depression, anxiety, their role in assisting their patients, and other patient and caregiver factors that play in improving/worsening the outcomes, is limited. This study explored the prevalence of caregiving burden, depression, and anxiety with a focus on the patient and caregiver-related factors among cancer family caregivers.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on the population of caregivers of adult patients with cancer in Zanjan, Iran between 2019 and 2020. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Zarit Burden Inventory (ZBI) were used to measure outcome variables. Clinical and basic characteristics of the caregivers and patients were also collected. An independent samples t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and stepwise linear regression were performed using SPSS software version 26.ResultsMean ± standard deviation age of the caregivers (167 men and 133 women) was 40.77 ± 12.56. Of the caregivers, 46.3, 53, and 30.7% showed severe depression, anxiety, and burden, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between ZBI with both BDI [r(298) = 0.19, p < 0.01] and BAI [r(298) = 0.20, p < 0.01]. Caregiving ≥24 months (B = 14.36, p < 0.001), outpatient care setting (B = −12.90, p < 0.001), being retired (B = −12.90, p < 0.001), depression (B = 0.28, p < 0.001), supplemental health insurance (B = −7.79, p < 0.001), being illiterate (B = 7.77, p < 0.01), surgery (B = 8.55, p < 0.01), ECOG1 (B = 4.88, p < 0.01), and patient's age (B = 0.11, p < 0.05) were found to be significant predictors of caregiving burden.ConclusionHigh levels of depression, anxiety, and burden were observed among the caregivers of patients with cancer. These findings underline the importance of paying close attention to the needs and psychological challenges of this population.

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