The feasibility of an adapted virtual mindfulness intervention for Special Olympics athletes and their caregivers.

BACKGROUND: Virtual mindfulness may be helpful for individuals with intellectual disabilities in the context of COVID-related disruptions of in-person programming, such as Special Olympics (SO). This study examined the feasibility of a virtual mindfulness intervention for SO athletes and their caregivers. METHOD: SO athletes (n = 44) and their caregivers (n = 29) participated in a 6-week adapted virtual mindfulness intervention. Athletes completed mindfulness and well-being questionnaires prior to, immediately following, and 3-months post-intervention. Caregivers completed questionnaires assessing their own stress, mindfulness, and well-being, as well as athlete mental health. Exit interviews were conducted immediately following the intervention. RESULTS: The intervention was feasible in terms of demand, implementation, acceptability, and limited testing efficacy. There were significant improvements in athlete well-being and mental health, and caregiver stress and mindfulness post-intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Adapted virtual mindfulness groups may be an effective intervention in improving the well-being of adults with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers.

Autistic characteristics and mental health symptoms in autistic youth during the first COVID-19 wave in Canada.

Autistic youth are at heightened risk for mental health issues, and pandemic-related stressors may exacerbate this risk. This study (1) described caregiver-reported youth mental health prior to and during the pandemic; and (2) explored individual, caregiver, and environmental factors associated with changes in autistic characteristics, social-emotional symptoms, and overall mental health. 582 caregivers of autistic children (2-18 years old) completed an online survey between June and July 2020 in which they provided demographic information, their child's pre-COVID and current mental health, autistic characteristics, and social-emotional symptoms. Caregivers also rated their own perceived stress, and COVID-related household and service disruption. According to caregivers, youth experienced more autistic characteristics and social-emotional concerns during the pandemic. Autistic youth were also reported to experience poorer overall mental health during the pandemic than before the pandemic. Older youth whose caregiver's indicated higher perceived stress and greater household disruption were reported to experience more autistic traits during pandemic. Caregiver-reported increases in youth social-emotional symptoms (i.e., behavior problems, anxiety, and low mood) was associated with being older, the presence of a pre-existing mental health condition, higher caregiver stress, and greater household and service disruption. Finally, experiencing less household financial hardship prior to COVID-19, absence of a pre-existing psychiatric condition, less caregiver stress, and less service disruption were associated with better youth pandemic mental health. Strategies to support the autistic community during and following the pandemic need to be developed. The developmental-ecological factors identified in this study could help target support strategies to those autistic youth who are most vulnerable to mental health problems.

Trait mindfulness and sleep: Interactions between observing and nonreactivity in the association with sleep health.

The current study investigated the associations between trait mindfulness and sleep health and examined the interactions between theoretically related mindfulness subscales. Participants (n = 162, Mage = 19.93) reported trait levels of mindfulness and sleep was assessed using questionnaires and actigraphy. Higher mindfulness scores in awareness, nonreactivity, and nonjudgment were associated with better sleep health. The associations between observing and sleep health were moderated by nonreactivity. Results indicate that observing is associated with better sleep health at higher levels of nonreactivity and worse sleep health at lower levels, helping to explain the often-contradictory findings between observing and health outcomes.

Trajectories and Correlates of Anger During the Perinatal Period.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate trajectories of anger during pregnancy and the early postpartum period; to identify baseline psychosocial predictors of anger trajectory group membership; and to examine correlates of anger trajectory group membership, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and social support, in the postpartum period. DESIGN: Longitudinal descriptive design. SETTING: We recruited participants from a maternity clinic in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: The sample included a convenience sample of 143 pregnant women who had basic fluency in English, were older than 17 years of age, and were less than 19 weeks gestation with a single fetus at the time of recruitment. METHODS: Participants completed online questionnaires at four time points: early, mid-, and late pregnancy and 2 months after birth. We used group-based semiparametric mixture modeling to estimate patterns of anger. We used multinomial logistic regression to explore associations between baseline predictors and trajectory membership. RESULTS: We identified four distinct trajectories of anger during pregnancy through 2 months after birth: minimal-stable anger (55%), mild-stable anger (24%), moderate-stable anger (14%), and high-decreasing anger (7%). Membership in the moderate-stable group was associated with greater baseline symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia severity scores compared to the minimal-stable anger group. Moderate-stable trajectory group membership was also associated with greater symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia at 2 months after birth. CONCLUSION: Higher levels of anger were associated with worse mental health in pregnancy and after childbirth in our participants. Women should be made aware of anger as a possible mood disturbance by clinicians, and researchers should investigate the consequences of anger during the perinatal period.

eHealth Interventions to Treat Substance Use in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Substance use during pregnancy is associated with adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes; eHealth interventions offer a potential accessible treatment option. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of eHealth interventions for the treatment of substance use during pregnancy. A comprehensive search of PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane and Embase databases was conducted from May 2020 to April 2021. The protocol for this study was registered with Prospero (CRD42020205186) through the University of York Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Two independent reviewers completed screening, data extraction, and quality assessment. RCTs were included if they reported: (a) administration of an eHealth intervention for (b) substance use outcomes, among (c) pregnant individuals. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software (CMA) was used to calculate pooled effect sizes (Odds Ratio) to determine the effect of eHealth interventions on substance use outcomes. Six studies were identified with substance use outcomes that included: smoking (n = 3), alcohol (n = 2), and other (n = 1). eHealth interventions were delivered through the internet (n = 1), computer (n = 3), telephone (n = 1), and text (n = 1). Results suggested that eHealth interventions significantly reduced substance use in pregnant individuals compared to controls (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.06 to 1.65, p = 0.013). eHealth interventions offer a promising and accessible treatment option to reduce substance use during pregnancy. This work was supported by the generous donors of the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program (CCHCSP), the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Santé.