stressor

Maternal prenatal stress places a substantial burden on mother’s mental health. Expectant mothers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have thus far received less attention than mothers in high-income settings. This is particularly problematic, as a range of triggers, such as exposure to traumatic events (e.g. natural disasters, previous pregnancy losses) and adverse life circumstances (e.g. poverty, community violence), put mothers at increased risk of experiencing prenatal stress. The ten-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is a widely recognised index of subjective experience of stress that is increasingly used in LMICs. However, evidence for its measurement equivalence across settings is lacking. This study aims to assess measurement invariance of the PSS-10 across eight LMICs and across birth parity. This research was carried out as part of the Evidence for Better Lives Study (EBLS, vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/EBLS). The PSS-10 was administered to N = 1,208 expectant...

Whaling has decimated North Atlantic right whales Eubalaena glacialis (NARW) since the 11th century and southern right whales E. australis (SRW) since the 19th century. Today, NARWs are Critically Endangered and decreasing, whereas SRWs are recovering. We review NARW health assessment literature, NARW Consortium databases, and efforts and limitations to monitor individual and species health, survival, and fecundity. Photographs are used to track individual movement and external signs of health such as evidence of vessel and entanglement trauma. Post-mortem examinations establish cause of death and determine organ pathology. Photogrammetry is used to assess growth rates and body condition. Samples of blow, skin, blubber, baleen and feces quantify hormones that provide information on stress, reproduction, and nutrition, identify microbiome changes, and assess evidence of infection. We also discuss models of the population consequences of multiple stressors, including the connection be...

The study examined stressors and coping strategies of 281 Social Sciences students at the Midlands State University in Zimbabwe (49% female, 51% male). A questionnaire was used to collect data. The results showed that the 7 most common stressors were: finance, reading resources, accommodation, food, transport, inadequate infrastructure and lecturer related problems. The students mentioned 34 coping strategies that were categorized and then analysed for effectiveness. The effects of sex, residence status and academic year differences were evaluated using Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis rank order analysis of variance. There were no significant differences in coping strategies for stressors by demographic variables.

The role of stressors is recognized as a crucial human resource development and management issue where it can have an overpowering consequence on organizational and employee performance. This study was conducted to discover the relationship between role stressor and family conflict using self-report questionnaires gathered from academic staff of a public comprehensive university in Sarawak, Malaysia. The outcomes of SmartPLS path model revealed three findings: first, role ambiguity significantly correlated with family conflict. Second, role conflict significantly correlated with family conflict. Third, role overload significantly correlated with family conflict. This finding demonstrates that role stressor is recognized in employeesi?½ family conflict. The paper provides discussions, implications and conclusion.

Background: Professional caregivers in youth residential care institutions experience frequent verbal and physical aggression as well as multiple stressors as part of their everyday work, leading to high levels of burnout and staff turnover. Resilience might buffer against psychophysiological stress response and therefore be crucial for well-being in professional caregivers.Objectives: We aimed to investigate if measures related to resilience [sense of coherence (SoC), self-efficacy and self-care] and attachment security of caregivers were cross-sectionally associated with stress markers in hair samples [cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)].Method: Participants (n = 134; 64.2% women) reported on individual resilience measures and provided hair samples for cortisol and DHEA assays. Attachment was assessed in a subsample using the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP, n = 69). Linear regression models were fitted to estimate the association between resilience measure...

This study was aimed to produce a culturally validated scale to determine the presence of stressful life events among adolescents in Bangladesh, and formulate the relative life change units for each event. The study used qualitative research, including a focus group and questionnaire, and quantitative analysis in the validation process. Researchers first developed a provisional stress scale that was translated in Bangla through a translation exercise. Using an open-ended question along with this provisional scale on a school sample of 449 (228 rated on imagination and 221 on actual experience) adolescents, researchers developed Dhaka stress scale– adolescent with 56 items and predictive interpretation of the overall score was made. Content validity was found excellent as item level content validity index was around 1 and the scale level validity index was 0.93. The correlation coefficient was 0.72 between this scale and adolescent life events stress scale. For reliability, Cronbach’...

Background Several research studies investigating the effectiveness of the different treatments have demonstrated that exposure-based therapies are more suitable and effective than others for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Traditionally, exposure may be achieved in two manners: in vivo, with direct contact to the stimulus, or by imagery, in the person's imagination. However, despite its effectiveness, both types of exposure present some limitations that supported the use of Virtual Reality (VR).

After the events of 9/11, many police-responders developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and were potentially vulnerable to developing depression and/or anxiety; in addition, nearly half of police with probable PTSD had comorbid depression and anxiety. Having in mind that victims who experience the effects of terrorism are exposed to high levels of psychological damage, we thus aimed to determine how sequelae of a terrorist act directly and indirectly affect victims. Quantitative synthesis findings were concluded on the basis of 200 records that met the inclusion criteria out of a total of 650. We grouped the patients according to their level of exposure to the WTC terrorist attack on 11 September 2001. The Level I group included individuals who had experienced the traumatic event and/or those who had observed the attack. The Level II group consisted of rescuers and/or persons who cleaned up debris in the area after the attack. The Level III group comprised the victims’ fami...

Objective:The COVID-19 pandemic initially doubled the rates of food insecurity across the USA and tripled rates among households with children. Despite the association among food insecurity, chronic disease and psychological distress, narratives depicting the experiences of already food insecure populations are notably underrepresented in the literature. The current study assessed the impact of COVID-19 on clients of a food pantry who were also enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).Design:A qualitative study probing the effects of the pandemic on daily living, food needs, food buying and food insecurity. Interview transcripts were analysed using a combined deductive and inductive approach.Setting:Interviews were conducted via telephone between May and June of 2020.Participants:Equal numbers of English- and Spanish-speaking clients (n 40 total).Results:Three main findings emerged: (1) the pandemic increased economic distress, such as from job loss or increa...

Background: One unprecedented year after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the pandemic is no longer a short-term stressor; the unremitting/chronic effects of COVID-19 disease is likely to cause impaired physical and mental health upon population and the implemented public health and social measures to limit transmission and reduce mortality and morbidity from COVID-19 expose many people to social isolation, job loss, and economic recession. This study aims to compare mental status and four mental symptoms (somatization, anxiety, depression, and social functions) between two periods during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: Current study consists of two cross-sectional mental health surveys on the Iranian adult population carried out in two periods of March to April 2020 and December 2020 to February 2021 in two important Provinces of Iran (Fars and Khorasan Razavi). In the first survey, 1337 individuals participated in the study and completed the...

Various job demands continue to be very stressing and exhausting for school administrators who have to work under unprecedented pressure. This qualitative study explores the various stressors school administrators experience and the coping strategies they utilize to manage their stress. Findings show that the various stressors experienced by the school administrators do affect their job performance and their own wellbeing. Principals mentioned three main types of stressors related to work, relationships and time. They also experienced some unpleasant feelings in response to these stressors such as guilt, a sense of unfairness, loneliness, or disappointment. However, their coping strategies comprised of spending time with loved ones and having an outlet outside work. Implications for social emotional skills-based professional development programmes for school administrators are discussed.

The present study investigates the antecedents and consequences of job stressors, especially role conflict and role ambiguity, in an environment where multiculturalism is a dominant feature of the workforce. This study used a sample of 397 employees in various manufacturing and service organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Path analysis revealed that age is negatively related to role conflict

Background: Schools are considered natural environments in which to enhance students’ social–emotional skills and mental health in general, but they can be especially important for students with refugee and immigrant backgrounds. The current study tested the effectiveness of two school-based interventions in enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents of native, refugee, and immigrant backgrounds. It further analyzed the role of age, gender, daily stressors, and discrimination in affecting the interventions’ effectiveness. Methods: A three-arm cluster RCT with parallel assignment was applied among the 16 schools. Schools were randomized to three conditions of two active interventions and a waiting-list control condition. Students (n = 1974) filled in an online questionnaire at baseline before the interventions, after the interventions, and at follow-up an average of 9 months after the interventions. The effectiveness criteria were internalizing and externalizing problem...

Memory and the processes of learning in mammals are well known to be affected by opioid agonists such as morphine, which has been proven to interfere and cause amnesia. The presence of endogenous morphine has been demonstrated in various tissues from mammals to invertebrates. In this study, we have investigated the effects caused by in-vivo immunodepletion of endogenous morphine on working memory under different experimental conditions. When mice were submitted to fasting, a stress condition, acquisition and consolidation of memory were significantly impaired compared to controls. This was demonstrated by a decrease in entry latency into the dark room in the retention session of the passive avoidance test. This effect was significantly reversed to baseline values when endogenous morphine was depleted from the extracellular brain space. These findings support a role for endogenous morphine in weakening memory processes under stress conditions.