AATP Journals

Immediate mental health status of refugees during the Ukrainian armed conflict of 2022. The study assessed stressors and the immediate mental health status of the Ukrainian refugees during the ongoing Ukrainian armed conflict of 2022 and analyzed strategies for reducing anxiety levels. The questionnaire-based prospective study was undertaken in Lviv, Ukraine (five study groups) and Israel (two groups) among 27,901 refugees and 1,259 controls. We assessed the levels of anxiety with General Anxiety Disorder–7 (GAD-7; score range = 0–21, mild to severe) and Refugees’ Anxiety Reasons–6 (RAR-6) with a score ranging from 30 (no anxiety) to 6 (extreme anxiety) questionnaires. RAR-6 assessed worries about personal safety, money matters, relatives under fire, the future of the country, limited medications, and general mental fatigue. The study involved refugees in the migration phase and internally displaced persons. The GAD-7 score of 16.1 ± 2.6 (severe anxiety) showed that all participants experienced anxiety during current hostilities. The RAR-6 score of 21.8 ± 1.7 demonstrated that participants worried about numerous acute problems, but the results varied from group to group. The refugees who moved abroad independently and without a clear goal had the worst GAD-7 score of 19.4 ± 1.7. The refugees who traveled abroad in a group-organized manner had the best RAR-6 score of 24.8 ± 1.5, while passing through Lviv refugees had the worst RAR-6 score of 19.0 ± 1.6 (p = .03). During hostilities, refugees, internally displaced persons, and regular inhabitants are mentally affected to varying degrees. For refugees, group-organized travel abroad is the best option to maintain adequate mental health, followed by an internal refugee status and traveling abroad independently (the worst strategy). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Mon, 08 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Psychosocial determinants of adolescents’ attitudes toward disclosing dating violence. This study combined a person-oriented approach with a psychosocial framework of help-seeking to examine factors associated with the intent to disclose dating violence among developing adolescents. Data came from adolescents in middle and high school in a rural area in the southeastern United States, who were surveyed annually for 4 years (N_{wave 1} = 580; M_age = 13 years, SD = 1.48; 52.7% female; 49% Black, 39% White, 11% Hispanic, or other minorities). Results confirm expectations that intraindividual (adolescent views on violence and safety); interindividual (peer and family dynamics); positional (gender, having a supportive adult); and ideological factors are all significant predictors of patterns in help-seeking attitudes. However, predictive relevance of some factors varied across help-seeking groups and data collection periods, supporting the differential effects hypothesis. For example, while greater friend social support increased the odds of belonging to “friend confidants,” it simultaneously decreased the odds of being a member of “parent confidants” and “moderate help-seekers” groups. Additionally, the influence of family functioning tended to decrease over time, eventually losing its explanatory value at Wave 4. The article concludes by discussing how integration of a person-centered methodological approach with a robust theoretical foundation advances our understanding of variability in adolescents’ responses to dating violence. Consideration of diversity in adolescent intentions to react to interpersonal violence is discussed further in the context of policy and practice to enhance protective options and prevent or minimize harm. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Mon, 08 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Psychological flexibility in the face of potential adversity: Examining wellness among gay and heterosexual men. This work expands the theoretical model on the pursuit of happiness in a hostile world, which concerns individuals’ coping processes in the face of life adversity while focusing on psychological flexibility, regarded as an adaptive strategy presenting co-occurrence of converse experiences. Psychological flexibility was operationalized by concurrent, positive, and negative affect as well as by differing modes of coping (negative and positive engagement) related to the concept of a hostile-world scenario. The adaptive role of psychological flexibility was examined among Israeli gay men, a sexual minority that deals with unique hardships. Gay men (N = 474, aged 18–84) were pair-matched with equivalent 474 presumably heterosexual men on core sociodemographic variables. Questionnaires assessed the participants’ psychological flexibility and psychological wellness as indicated by self-rated health, life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism. The results showed a positive association between psychological flexibility and psychological wellness. Moreover, this association was stronger among gay compared to heterosexual men. In conclusion, the endurance of contradictory experiences may facilitate the adjustment to complex life challenges of sexual minorities. Therefore, researchers and clinicians working with sexual minorities are encouraged to examine coping strategies that enhance psychological flexibility by addressing the adaptational benefits embedded in the coactivation of positive and negative experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Voices that matter: A community-driven intervention framework for Black women who have experienced traumatic loss. Although Black women face disproportionately high rates of gun violence and incarceration loss, there is a scarcity of culturally relevant interventions for this population. The aims of this study were to (a) examine the need for a culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and evidence-based grief intervention and to (b) identify key program components and considerations. Using a community-based participatory research framework, co-collaborators interviewed and surveyed 13 Black women who experienced gun violence and/or incarceration loss. Thematic analysis of interview data confirmed a need for this type of intervention due to the traumatic impact of losing a loved one, the inadequacy of available resources, and the personal and communal importance of addressing their grief. Critical intervention components included relationships and social support, help in “moving beyond” the experience, opportunities for emotional expression and validation, acknowledgment of spirituality and self-care, personal freedom in the grieving process, and addressing “underlying issues.” The participants also completed a survey with 24 proposed intervention activities. The 22 they identified as “very important” largely corresponded with interview codes. Barriers to treatment included judgment and invalidation, lack of trust, disinterest, feeling stuck, mental health stigma, and lack of knowledge. Opinions about combining women with different types of loss in the same group and the importance of the group developers’ lived experience were mixed. Overall, our findings support the need for culturally relevant, trauma-informed interventions in this population and provide a foundation for developing such an intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Mon, 08 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

The role of racial bias and pathways to self-harm outcomes for Mexican-descent college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted preexisting health disparities and impacted the mental health of many Latine/x in the United States. Emerging adults are at increased risk for anxiety, depression (Ganson et al., 2021; Kujawa et al., 2020), and suicidal ideation (Tasnim et al., 2020). There is a scarcity of research that has examined sociocultural factors (i.e., racial bias, pandemic-related stress) associated with mental health outcomes (i.e., depression) and how they may be associated with self-harm resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic for Mexican-descent emerging adults. Using socioecological framework, we examined how COVID-19-related racial bias and perceived pandemic stress related to self-harm among Mexican-descent emerging adults. We used serial mediation to identify indirect effects between these factors. The present study examined the experiences of Mexican-descent college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants (N = 818) were college students (ages 18–25) and completed an online survey. Rates of self-harm were as follows: 10.5% (suicide ideation), 6.9% (nonsuicidal self-injury), and 2.9% (suicide attempts). Results showed a significant indirect effect of COVID-19-related racial bias on suicide attempts via COVID-19-related perceived stress and depression symptoms (β = .17, SE = .05, 95% CI [.10, .30]). Findings were consistent across self-harm outcomes (i.e., suicide ideation, nonsuicidal self-injury, and suicide attempts). This study elucidated novel processes from perceived COVID-19-related racial bias to self-harm outcomes via pandemic-related stress and depression symptoms. Findings inform culturally responsive interventions aimed at reducing self-harm in young adults faced with pervasive discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 05 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Disgust proneness influences the effects of political orientation on xenophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although political conservatism has been associated with xenophobia, the processes that may explain this link during the COVID-19 pandemic are unclear. Xenophobia does increase during infectious disease outbreaks, suggesting an adaptation for those concerned about disease threats. Given that disgust facilitates disease avoidance, the present study examined the extent to which disgust proneness (DP) moderated the association between political conservatism and xenophobia during the pandemic. Community participants (n = 277) reporting their political orientation and levels of DP on May 27, 2020 completed measures of COVID-19 xenophobia and COVID-19 anxiety every 2 weeks for a total of 15 timepoints over 30 weeks. Multilevel models revealed that xenophobia was elevated among those high in DP but decreased throughout the pandemic. Xenophobia was also elevated among conservatives but also decreased during the pandemic. Consistent with predictions, DP moderated the effect of political orientation on xenophobia such that at high (but not low) levels of DP, the link between political orientation and xenophobia was significant, with higher levels of conservativism predicting higher xenophobia even when controlling for COVID-19 anxiety. The implications of the present findings for conceptualizing the various processes that explain how political attitudes may fuel xenophobia during future pandemics are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 18 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

The influence of acculturation, enculturation, and religious orientation on Arab/Middle Eastern North African (MENA) Americans’ help-seeking attitudes. Help-seeking attitudes among Arab/Middle Eastern North African (MENA) Americans remain an understudied outcome, despite significant levels of reported mental health concerns. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine whether Arab/MENA Christians and Muslims’ help-seeking attitudes were significantly associated with acculturation, enculturation, and religious orientation. Results indicated that acculturation levels were positively associated with help-seeking attitudes, wherein individuals with higher levels of dominant society immersion were more likely to report more positive attitudes toward help seeking. Extrinsic social religious orientation (ESRO) interacted with religious affiliation (i.e., Christian or Muslim) wherein higher levels of ESRO were associated with lower help-seeking attitudes for Muslims but not Christians. Moreover, enculturation and religious affiliation interacted so that higher levels of enculturation were associated with less positive help-seeking attitudes for Christians and more positive help-seeking attitudes for Muslims. Finally, intrinsic religious orientation interacted with religious affiliation so that increasing levels of intrinsic religious orientation predicted lower levels of help-seeking attitudes for Muslims and higher levels for Christians. These findings have implications for working with Arab/MENA groups and implementing interventions to improve access and attitudes toward mental health services, which are often stigmatized (i.e., socially devalued) in this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Mon, 08 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Burdensomeness, acculturative stress, and suicide ideation among second-generation Asian American and Latinx university students. Second-generation persons experience unique interpersonal stressors that contribute to overall risk for suicide. However, studies to date have yet to examine complex associations for interpersonal risks and suicide ideation in this growing population. Consistent with the interpersonal theory of suicide, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential moderating effects of acculturative stress (familial and general) in the association of perceived burdensomeness and suicide ideation among second-generation Asian American and Latinx young adults. Second-generation Asian American (n = 146) and Latinx (n = 139) university students completed self-measures of perceived burdensomeness, acculturative stress, suicide ideation, and depressive symptoms. Regression analyses revealed that the association for perceived burden and suicide ideation was most robust at higher levels of familial acculturative stress for Asian American study participants. Other models demonstrated likely clinical significance but did not reach statistical significance. In one example, perceived burdensomeness was associated with suicide ideation for second-generation Latinx study participants but, unexpectedly, at low (not high) levels of familial acculturative stress. General acculturative stress was not associated with suicide ideation for Asian American or Latinx university students in multivariate models. The current findings provide insight into interpersonal and contextual factors that contribute to suicide ideation for vulnerable second-generation Asian American and Latinx young adults. Further research is needed to assess shame, parental acculturative stress, and potential buffers such as peer support in risk/resilience models. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Emotional exhaustion and psychological distress among health care workers after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake: Prevalence and associated factors. Concerns about health workers’ burnout and psychological well-being have increased as public health crises spread worldwide. This study aims to examine the burnout and psychological distress levels among health care professionals working in our children’s hospital 1 month after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake. A total of 213 health care workers (180 females, 84.5%, mean age 32.67) were included in the study. This cross-sectional study assessed burnout symptoms, psychological distress, and resilience via the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale–21, and the Brief Resilience Scale, respectively. A substantial number of participants (n = 117, 54.9%) reported high emotional exhaustion; approximately half of those were nurses (n = 56, 47.9%). The nurses had higher emotional exhaustion, depression, and stress scores as well as lower self-reported resilience scores than other health care assistants. Higher stress scores were associated with an increased likelihood of high emotional exhaustion, while having more work experience was a protective factor regarding the high emotional exhaustion of nurses. Our results showed that a significant proportion of health care workers had a high level of burnout. Frontline nurses as a group were at heightened risk for psychological distress and emotional exhaustion in the early stages of the disaster. Screening burnout and psychological distress in health care professionals is important for preventive strategies after the disaster. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
View Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT