Finding Wellness in the Pandemic
Mental Health Wellness 1Addiction3 moreThere is an immediate need for population-level intervention research to address the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its containment measures on mental health and substance use (MHSU). While online programs are available to address these issues, they are often delivered in an asynchronous format with relatively low therapist or health coaching guidance. As highlighted by a recent systematic review, positive outcomes for online mental health programs are tied to the intensity of therapist or coaching guidance, which increases cost and reduces population access to more effective online options. A way to offset cost while maintaining effectiveness is to offer MHSU programs to groups online, rather than individually. In 2019, the investigators launched an RCT to test gender-stratified group interventions to address MHSU among community-based Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults in southern Alberta. The investigators implemented the interventions with more than 200 adults before the study was paused due to COVID-19.
The Stony Brook University Calm-Mom Study
Pregnancy RelatedStress3 moreThe present trial will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of 2 different internet-delivered programs for prenatal maternal stress. The Stress Managment and Resiliency Training Program (SMART-Mom program), an 8-session Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) based mind body program and the Mama Support Program, an 8-session social support group program. Sixty pregnant women (<20 weeks Estimated Gestational Age) will be screened and either enrolled in the online SMART Mom Program or the Mama Support Program. Outcomes, including maternal perceived stress, depression, and anxiety will be assessed at post-treatment, three, and six months post program completion. Potential impact on infant health outcomes will be assessed via post-delivery electronic medical record review.
Understanding Everyday Stress
StressPsychological StressThis research study is being done to better understand how people experience stress in everyday life and how that stress may relate to sleep and physical activity. We are also testing stress management approaches that are intended to reduce stress responses in everyday life.
Effects of GPR on Stress and Sleep Quality in Health Sciences
StressPsychologicalStress is a physiological reaction of our organism to situations that are perceived as threats. Of the different types of stress, emotional stress understood as a feeling of tension in difficult and unmanageable situations is increasingly prevalent in the western population and is responsible for a multitude of physical and psychological health disorders. In the same vein, sleep is a process experienced with a circadian (daily) periodicity in which there is a direct detachment from the environment and is necessary to maintain physiological, psychological and/or behavioral activities correctly. Both teachers and students in higher education are examples of populations in which emotional stress and problems related to sleep quality have been described, with women being more sensitive to these problems. The beneficial effects of physical exercise on different cognitive variables have been described, and it has been possible to characterise these effects on the physiological triggers of stress and sleep and, therefore, on alterations in the nervous and hormonal systems. Along these lines, Global Postural Re-education (GPR) is a physical therapy designed to re-establish the coordination of muscle chains and relieve pain. It has been established that GPR is a therapy in which the active participation of the patient is necessary so that it can be framed as physical exercise, with a structured execution protocol. The overall aim of this study is to test whether a self-treatment therapy with RPG, after a learning and familiarisation phase, performed for 8 weeks, can have positive effects on stress reduction and improvement of sleep quality in female teachers and students of health sciences.
Prebiotics and Stress Reduction in Women
StressPsychologicalIn modern life, many people state to experience stress. Women compared to men report more and higher levels of stress. Recent research found that supplementation of galactose-oligosaccharides (GOS) resulted in reduced anxiety levels in British female students with higher anxiety scores at baseline in self-reported trait anxiety. Moreover, supplementation of probiotics in germ-free rodents resulted in reduced levels of circulating corticosterone (cortisol in humans). These findings illustrate the potential of prebiotic supplementation, through the microbiota-gut-brain (MGB) axis, to improve mental health and wellbeing. The present study aims to study the effect of oligosaccharides on self-perceived stress.
Evaluating Implementation and Impact of OnCall, a Mobile-health Peer Support App for Canadian Public...
Mental Health IssueMental Stress1 moreThis multi-site prospective cohort implementation study will track the implementation and impact of OnCall and OnCallSupport, a new mobile health platform developed to facilitate early intervention and peer support in Canadian Public Safety Personnel (PSP). Implementation will focus on organizations in four public safety sectors: corrections, emergency communications, paramedicine (EMS), and fire. OnCall is an app for frontline PSP that features self assessment and self-management tools, as well as an opportunity for a private text or telephone connection with their choice of trained peer support providers. OnCallSupport is the paired app for peer support providers to link privately with the OnCall users. Approximately 24 diverse PSP organizations will be recruited to engage in a three-month trial of the OnCall and OnCallSuport apps. Data will include interviews with organizational champions and focus groups with peer support providers to understand the organizational context for implementation. Baseline and 3 month surveys with OnCall users will track change in mental health, mental health literacy, and outreach for support. Data analysis will include descriptive data regarding app utilisation patterns, and forces impacting utilisation of the peer support app, as well as quantitive changes in mental distress, mental health literacy and help-outreach, and predictors of change. Study findings will inform recommendations for optimizing implementation of the OnCall app with other PSP organizations.
App-Based Mindfulness Meditation for People of Color Who Experience Race-Related Stress
StressPsychological7 moreIn the United States, people of color (POC) are disproportionally affected by stressors related to race/ethnicity compared with their non-Latinx White (NLW). Considering POC exposed to race-related stress are at high risk of developing a mental health disorder, there is a clear need for treatments that allow individuals to cope effectively with these stressors. Among many evidence-based treatments available, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may be particularly well suited to help POC cope. MBIs are hypothesized to be effective via increases in mindfulness and self-compassion, as well as reductions in experiential avoidance, rumination, and emotion suppression. Despite their effectiveness, MBIs rarely reach POC. As such, innovative strategies such as self-directed app-based intervention may reduce the treatment gap. Considering the lack of research examining the effectiveness of MBIs among POC, especially those who experience elevated levels of race-related stress, this study will employ a randomized control trial (RCT) approach to examine whether receiving an app-based MBI engages the hypothesized mechanisms of change (i.e., mindfulness, self-compassion, experiential avoidance, rumination, emotion suppression) among POC. Similarly, the study will test whether the intervention leads to decreases in the negative mental health outcomes more often associated with exposure to race-related stress (i.e., stress, anxiety, depression). Acceptability, adherence, and satisfaction also will be analyzed to explore whether a non-culturally adapted MBI is still relevant for POC who face race-related stress. Results from this trial will contribute to the nascent data on MBI acceptability and effectiveness with POC. To the investigators' knowledge, this study will also be the first to include a sample of POC recruited based on elevated levels of race-related stress, a high-risk population that is not commonly targeted in MBI research.
Effects of Music Combined With Sports Games on Alleviating Psychological Stress, Anxiety and Mental...
StressAnxiety and FearThe objective of this observational study was to assess whether music and sports play interventions were effective in reducing stress, anxiety and fear of COVID-19 among secondary school students in Gansu Province; The effects of music, sports games, and music combined with sports games were compared.
Positive Cueing in Knee Arthroplasty.
OsteoarthritisKnee2 moreTo the knowledge of the investigators, the feasibility of an RCT assessing the use of positive cueing in an information video for patients undergoing primary TKA is currently unclear. The investigators conducted a feasibility study with the primary objective to assess the acceptability of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) procedure for participating patients. The secondary objective was to evaluate the rate of recruitment, the comprehensibility (do patients understand what is expected of them during the trial) and if there were any adjustments necessary to the design of the study. The outcome of the current feasibility study will be used to determine whether adjustments are required to the design of the RCT before we proceed.
Digital Behavioral Interventions in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Crohn DiseaseUlcerative Colitis5 moreGiven the bidirectionality between psychological distress and disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), whereby increased psychological distress exacerbates disease activity and vice versa, psychosocial aspects of IBD care are receiving increased attention. However, proposed interventions are generally resource-intensive and have been tested in majority white populations. While people of color are an increasing segment of the IBD population, they are currently underrepresented in research studies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and implementation of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) among IBD patients of color with elevated psychological distress.