Abstract: Background. Antenatal depression is prevalent and serious problems that is associated with psychosocial factors, obstetric history, and history of psychiatric illness. Evidence on prevalence and factors associated with antenatal depression at community level is limited in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was assessing the prevalence of antenatal depression and associated factors among pregnant women in West Badewacho Woreda, Hadiyya Zone, South Ethiopia, 2018. Methods. A community based cross sectional study was conducted from March 15 to April 12, 2018. To draw a total sample size of 541 pregnant women, multistage sampling technique was used. Pretested semi-structured questionnaire and standardized scale was used to collect data from each study subject. Data were entered and cleaned using Epi-Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Bivariate analysis was carried out to see crude association between each independent variable and outcome variable. Odds ratios at 95%CI were computed to measure the strength of the association between the outcome and the independent variables. -value PubDate: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 15:05:03 +000
Abstract: The goal of this study is to determine whether different types of activities have a differential effect on mood and enjoyment. Methods. A secondary analysis of the data of 754 participants (Mage = 35.8 years, SDage = 12.6; MPHQ-9 = 7.6, SDPHQ-9 = 7.0) who were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) to participate in a brief online study. Participants completed an activity log and reported retrospectively about three types of activities (Pleasant, Meaningful, and Mastery) at baseline and one week follow-up. A mixed effects ANOVA was used to analyze the effect of weekly activities on mood, and a temporal analysis model was used to test for the effect of daily activities on enjoyment. Results. Participants who reported higher number of Mastery activities for the week had higher mood ratings at follow-up (F (1, 39) = 4.89, ), regardless of depression status at baseline. Pleasant and Meaningful activities did not have a significant effect on mood. Daily engagement in any of the three activity types increased enjoyment of that day (Pleasant: ,t (1811) = 46.73, ; Meaningful: ,t (1814) = 11.65, ; Mastery: ,t (1816) = 13.07, ]. Conclusions. These findings contribute to the understanding on how brief behavioral activation interventions delivered online may influence participants’ mood and enjoyment, and can inform clinicians’ recommendations about types of activities. PubDate: Sat, 25 Jan 2020 06:20:03 +000
Abstract: Background. Empirical findings have indicated that higher institution students experience a higher prevalence of mental distress compared to the general population. Understanding the magnitude and associated factors of mental distress in university students would be helpful to practitioners and policymakers in Ethiopia. The aim of the present study was to examine the prevalence and associated factors of mental distress among Samara university students, Northeast Ethiopia. Methods. Institution based cross-sectional study design was conducted in Samara university from December to June 2018. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select the study participants. Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20) was used to measure the mental distress of students. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was used to examine the association between sociodemographic and psychosocial factors with the mental distress of students. Results. The proportion of students with mental distress were found to be 53.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 48.0%, 58.0%). Female students were more likely to be mentally distressed compared to male students (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 4.66; 95% CI: 2.81, 7.71). Ever khat use (AOR: 3.09; 95% CI: 1.74, 5.50) and poor sleep quality (AOR: 2.23; 95% CI: 1.12, 3.66) were significantly associated with mental distress of students. Conclusion. Our study indicates that the proportion of mental distress was found to be higher among Samara university students as compared to previously published studies in Ethiopia. Female students, ever khat users and those with poor sleep quality were associated with mental distress. There is a need for evidence-based interventional strategies such as self-help measures, sleep hygiene and peer support, as well as professional mental health services as part of student health services that would be helpful to reduce the burden of mental distress of students. PubDate: Fri, 24 Jan 2020 21:50:04 +000
Abstract: Background. Maternal depression is a major public health concern as it affects both mothers and their children. Antenatal depression, which is often underdiagnosed, has been associated with preterm labour, low birth weight, and intrauterine growth restriction. Research has demonstrated that postpartum depression is associated with mother-infant bonding impairment, child abuse, child neglect, maternal substance abuse, and self-harm. Globally, the prevalence of depression in pregnant and postpartum adolescents varies. This paper reports on the findings of the prevalence of depression and its associated risk factors among pregnant and postpartum adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods. Data were generated by means of a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted between June and November 2017 utilizing a sample of 326 adolescent females accessing maternal health services in a medium-sized rural peripheral district hospital in Ugu, Southern KwaZulu-Natal. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale questionnaire was used to screen participating pregnant and postnatal adolescents for depression. A cut-off score of ≥13 was used to identify pregnant and postnatal adolescents with symptoms of depression. The data were analysed using R software. Results. The prevalence of depression among the pregnant participants was 15.9% (21/132), whereas it was 8.8% (17/194) among the postpartum participants. Antenatal depression was associated with physical violence (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 6.47, 95% CI 1.36-30.53, ) and verbal abuse (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.8, 95% CI 1.5-15.16, ). The pregnant participants who indicated they received a lot of support from their partners were 0.93% less likely to have depression. Postnatal depression was associated with physical violence (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 7.32, 95% CI 1.66-29.44, ), verbal abuse (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.3, 95% CI 1.03-15.79, ), and intimate partner violence (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 9.58, 95% CI 1.58-48.82, ).Conclusion. The prevalence of antenatal depression was higher than postpartum depression in the study sample. In light of the findings, maternal healthcare professionals are cautioned to consider the mental health of pregnant and postpartum adolescents who seek their services at health facilities. PubDate: Tue, 21 Jan 2020 15:05:05 +000
Abstract: The current study explored the eye-tracking patterns of individuals with nonclinical levels of depressive symptomatology when processing emotional expressions. Fifty-three college undergraduates were asked to label 80 facial expressions of five emotions (anger, fear, happiness, neutral, and sadness) while an eye-tracker measured visit duration. We argue visit duration provides more detailed information for evaluating which features of the face are used more often for processing emotional faces. Our findings indicated individuals with nonclinical levels of depressive symptomatology process emotional expressions very similarly to individuals with little to no depressive symptoms, with one noteworthy exception. In general, individuals in our study visited the “T” region, lower and middle AOIs (Area of Interest), more often than upper and noncore areas, but the distinction between the lower and middle AOIs appears for happiness only when individuals are higher in depressive symptoms. PubDate: Mon, 06 Jan 2020 12:50:01 +000
Abstract: Background. The aim of the current study was to examine the prevalence and associations of hazardous alcohol use with sociodemographic variables and its comorbidity with depression and other common mental disorders in a sample of Greek adolescents between 16 and 18 year old. Methods. We recruited 2431 adolescents attending 25 senior high schools in Greece. We assessed depressive and anxiety disorders using the computerized version of a fully-structured psychiatric interview (the revised Clinical Interview Schedule / CIS-R). Alcohol use was assessed using questions taken from a previous WHO school survey. Results. Approximately one-third of adolescents (overall: 30.7%, boys: 39.2%, girls: 21.9%, ) consumed alcohol on a weekly basis. The experience of excessive consumption, leading to drunkenness at least two or more times in their lifetime, was reported by 15.39% of the adolescents (19.42% for the boys and 11.24% for the girls, ). Frequent alcohol consumption and drunkenness were strongly associated with the presence of depression, all other anxiety disorders except panic disorder, current smoking, and lifetime cannabis use, lower school performance, bad or fair relationship with parents, and increased health services use. Conclusion. Alcohol use is highly prevalent among Greek adolescents. Special attention for the development of more focused preventive strategies should be paid to adolescents suffering from depression or other common mental disorders. PubDate: Wed, 25 Sep 2019 07:05:14 +000
Abstract: Background. Depression is consistently associated with increased risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection and poor antiretroviral treatment adherence. Though many factors have been reported as determinant factors of depression, site-specific evidence is needed to identify factors associated with depression among adults on antiretroviral treatment. Methods. An institution based cross-sectional study was carried out from March to May 2015 among 411 adults HIV/AIDS patients on ART clinic follow-up. Participants were selected using systematic random sampling techniques. Data were collected using chart review and interviewer- administered techniques. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to compute the statistical test associations by SPSS version-20. Variables with p value < 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results. Four hundred eleven patients with a mean age ± Standard Deviation of 36.1±9.2 years and with a total response rate of 97.6% were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of depression was 14.6% (95% CI, 10.90-18.2). Factors independently associated with depression were nonadherence to ART, eating two meals per day or less, having side effect of ART medication, being in the WHO Stage II or above of HIV/AIDS, and living alone with AOR (95% CI) of 3.3 (1.436, 7.759), 2.8 (1.382, 5.794), 4.7 (1.317, 16.514), 2.8 (0.142, 0.786), and 2.4 (1.097, 5.429), respectively. Conclusion. Though the magnitude of depression was found relatively low, it was commonly observed as a mental health problem among adult patients with HIV/AIDS on ART. Programs on counseling and close follow-up of adherence to ART, drug side effects, and nutrition should be strengthened. Health facilities should link adult patients with HIV/AIDS who live alone to governmental and nongovernmental social supporter organizations. PubDate: Sun, 03 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +000
Abstract: Self-esteem is a crucial factor for an individual’s well-being and mental health. Low self-esteem is associated with depression and anxiety. Data about self-esteem is oftentimes collected in Internet-based interventions through Ecological Momentary Assessments and is usually provided on an ordinal scale. We applied models for ordinal outcomes in order to predict the self-esteem of 130 patients based on diary data of an online depression treatment and thereby illustrated a path of how to analyze EMA data in Internet-based interventions. Specifically, we analyzed the relationship between mood, worries, sleep, enjoyed activities, social contact, and the self-esteem of patients. We explored several ordinal models with varying degrees of heterogeneity and estimated them using Bayesian statistics. Thereby, we demonstrated how accounting for patient-heterogeneity influences the prediction performance of self-esteem. Our results show that models that allow for more heterogeneity performed better regarding various performance measures. We also found that higher mood levels and enjoyed activities are associated with higher self-esteem. Sleep, social contact, and worries were significant predictors for only some individuals. Patient-individual parameters enable us to better understand the relationships between the variables on a patient-individual level. The analysis of relationships between self-esteem and other psychological factors on an individual level can therefore lead to valuable information for therapists and practitioners. PubDate: Sun, 13 Jan 2019 18:05:02 +000