depression

Existential Meaninglessness Scale: Scale Development and Psychometric Properties

Leave a Comment / Anxiety and Psychometrics, Anxiety News, Anxiety Research, News, Psychotherapy Research /

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Ahead of Print. Grounded in a tripartite existential meaninglessness model, the authors developed the 18-item Existential Meaninglessness Scale (EMS) to assess one’s concern and anxiety of existential meaninglessness. Across three samples, the EMS’s factor structure and evidence of convergent, criterion-related, and incremental validity, internal consistency, and test–retest reliability were examined. Exploratory factor analyses demonstrated three dimensions of the EMS: incomprehension, purposelessness, and insignificance. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a bifactor model was a better fit to the data than other models. The bifactor model provided evidence for a general factor and measurement invariance. Ancillary bifactor indices indicated EMS’s unidimensionality. Findings of bivariate correlations and hierarchical regression analyses provided evidence for different aspects of construct validity and internal consistency. Both the Concern and Anxiety measures of the EMS positively predicted depressive symptoms and suicide ideation above and beyond the effects of general existential meaninglessness, general feelings of anxiety, and presence of meaning in life. Based on the findings, the authors discuss future research directions on existential meaninglessness using the EMS.

Existential Meaninglessness Scale: Scale Development and Psychometric Properties Read More »

Classic Psychedelic Use and Mechanisms of Mental Health: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Spirituality and Emotion Processing on Symptoms of Anxiety, Depressed Mood, and Disordered Eating in a Community Sample

Leave a Comment / Anxiety and Eating Disorder, Anxiety and Medication, Anxiety News, Anxiety Research, Anxiety Resources, Depression Research, Emotions and Anxiety, Psychotherapy Research, Spirituality and Anxiety /

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Ahead of Print. A resurgence of research has begun to systematically examine the relationship between psychedelic use and mental health and well-being. Although preliminary findings examining the therapeutic value of these substances show promise, the mechanisms through which psychedelic use may predict reduced mental distress remain poorly understood. To this end, we surveyed a community sample of individuals (n = 159) who endorsed lifetime psychedelic use to examine relationships among psychedelic use and self-reported spirituality, difficulties in emotion regulation, and symptoms of mental health issues. Results revealed a pathway through which classic psychedelic use predicted greater spirituality, which in turn predicted better emotion regulation, ultimately predicting lower levels of anxiety, depressed mood, and disordered eating. These results contribute to our understanding of potential mechanisms of change with respect to psychedelics and mental health. They also add to the growing body of literature pointing to the healing effects of the cultivation of spirituality and emotion regulation as separate and related constructs.

Classic Psychedelic Use and Mechanisms of Mental Health: Exploring the Mediating Roles of Spirituality and Emotion Processing on Symptoms of Anxiety, Depressed Mood, and Disordered Eating in a Community Sample Read More »

Two years COVID-19 pandemic: Development of university students’ mental health 2020–2022

Leave a Comment / Anxiety and COVID-19, Anxiety News, Anxiety Public Health, Anxiety Research, News /

… A cross-sectional, anonymous online survey among students of six universities was conducted between April and May 2022 (N = 5,510). … …More than one third of students exhibited clinically relevant symptoms of depression (35.5%), hazardous alcohol use (33.0–35.5% depending on gender) or anxiety disorder (31.1%). Taken together, almost two out of three (61.4%) students

Two years COVID-19 pandemic: Development of university students’ mental health 2020–2022 Read More »

Impulsivity, suicidal thoughts, psychological distress, and religiosity in adolescents and young adults

Leave a Comment / Anxiety Research, Anxiety Resources, Anxiety Treatment, Medicine and Anxiety, News, Spirituality and Anxiety, Suicidality and Anxiety /

Impulsivity is associated with suicidal acts and ideation, whereas higher religious commitment has been identified as a potential protective factor linked to lower suicidal ideation. … … Non-planning impulsivity (predictor) was inversely associated with religious commitment (r = −0.33, p < 0.01), and religious commitment (mediator) was inversely related to suicidal ideation (outcome) (r = −0.32, p < 0.01). These findings remained statistically

Impulsivity, suicidal thoughts, psychological distress, and religiosity in adolescents and young adults Read More »

Differential relationship of observer-rated and self-rated depression and anxiety scales with heart rate variability features

Leave a Comment / Anxiety News, Anxiety Research, Depression Research, Medicine and Anxiety /

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a known psychophysiological marker for diverse psychiatric symptoms. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential for clinical use of HRV by investigating the interrelationship between HRV indices and clinical measures mainly used to assess depressive and anxious symptoms. … … Our study showed that HRV is an objective

Differential relationship of observer-rated and self-rated depression and anxiety scales with heart rate variability features Read More »

The contribution of transdiagnostic vulnerability factors in patients with chronic insomnia

Leave a Comment / Anxiety and Sleep / Insomnia, Anxiety News, Anxiety Research, Depression Research, News /

Two hundred patients with chronic insomnia disorder were recruited from a sleep disorder clinic. … After controlling for the confounding variables (depression/anxiety symptoms and demographic characteristics), hierarchical multiple linear regression suggested the significant association of neuroticism (BFI), cognitive reappraisal (ERQ), personal standards (CPQ), evaluative concerns (CPQ), physical concerns (ASI), cognitive concerns (ASI), and repetitive negative

The contribution of transdiagnostic vulnerability factors in patients with chronic insomnia Read More »

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Late-Life Depression (CBTlate): Results of a Multicenter, Randomized, Observer-Blinded, Controlled Trial

Leave a Comment / Anxiety Research, Depression Research, News, Psychotherapy Research /

Introduction: Different psychotherapeutic interventions for late-life depression (LLD) have been proposed, but their evaluation in large, multicenter trials is rare. Objective: The present study evaluated the efficacy of a specific cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for LLD (LLD-CBT) in comparison with a supportive unspecific intervention (SUI), both administered in a specialist psychiatric outpatient setting. … Conclusions:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Late-Life Depression (CBTlate): Results of a Multicenter, Randomized, Observer-Blinded, Controlled Trial Read More »

The risk factors of progestational anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance in women with recurrent pregnancy loss: A cross-sectional study in China

Leave a Comment / Anxiety News, Depression Research, Pregnancy and Child Birth /

BackgroundThe risk factors of progestational anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance in women with a history of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) remain controversial, additional study is needed to investigate the incidence and risk factors of progestational anxiety, depression, and sleep quality in RPL women.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 663 non-pregnant RPL women in Northeast China from October 2019 to July 2022. We assessed the state of anxiety, depression, and sleep quality before pregnancy using structured questionnaires, including sociodemographic characteristics, state-trait anxiety scale (STAI), center for epidemiological survey, depression scale (CES-D), Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and symptom self-rating scale (SCL-90). Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between sleep quality and anxiety, depression. Pearson’s correlation was used to evaluate the correlation between anxiety and depression. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to find the risk factors of depression symptoms. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the predictive value of the model.ResultsThe incidence of state anxiety, trait anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance in RPL women were 60.3, 51.7, 33.9, and 31.2%, respectively. The level of anxiety and depression in RPL women varied at different stages of treatment. In a longitudinal study (25 pairs), we found the level of state anxiety and trait anxiety were significantly lower after the cause was identified. Sleep disturbance is positively correlated with anxiety and depression. Logistic regression showed that the number of miscarriages ≥4 (Odds ratio (OR) = 2.268, 95%CI 1.300–3.956), Low household family income (OR = 1.613, 95%CI 1.036–2.513/OR = 2.361, 95%CI 1.095–5.092), interval since last miscarriage

The risk factors of progestational anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance in women with recurrent pregnancy loss: A cross-sectional study in China Read More »

Self perceived health and stress in the pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Leave a Comment / Anxiety Public Health, Anxiety Research, Depression Research, News, Pregnancy and Child Birth /

The COVID-19 pandemic has had numerous maternal and neonatal consequences, especially at the mental level. Pregnant women experience a rise in anxiety symptoms and prenatal stress. The aim was to describe self-perceived health status, general stress and prenatal stress and to analyze relations and associations with sociodemographic factors. … During the first trimester of gestation,

Self perceived health and stress in the pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic Read More »