The Acceptability and Usability of Digital Health Interventions for Adults With Depression, Anxiety, and Somatoform Disorders: Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of mental health disorders continues to rise, with almost 4% of the world population having an anxiety disorder and almost 3.5% having depression in 2017. Despite the high prevalence, only one-third of people with depression or anxiety receive treatment. Over the last decade, the use of digital health interventions (DHIs) has risen rapidly as a means of accessing mental health care and continues to increase. Although there is evidence supporting the effectiveness of DHIs for the treatment of mental health conditions, little is known about what aspects are valued by users and how they might be improved. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to identify, appraise, and synthesize the qualitative literature available on service users' views and experiences regarding the acceptability and usability of DHIs for depression, anxiety, and somatoform disorders. METHODS: A systematic search strategy was developed, and searches were run in 7 electronic databases. Qualitative and mixed methods studies published in English were included. A meta-synthesis was used to interpret and synthesize the findings from the included studies. RESULTS: A total of 24 studies were included in the meta-synthesis, and 3 key themes emerged with descriptive subthemes. The 3 key themes were initial motivations and approaches to DHIs, personalization of treatment, and the value of receiving personal support in DHIs. The meta-synthesis suggests that participants' initial beliefs about DHIs can have an important effect on their engagement with these types of interventions. Personal support was valued very highly as a major component of the success of DHIs. The main reason for this was the way it enabled individual personalization of care. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the systematic review have implications for the design of future DHIs to improve uptake, retention, and outcomes in DHIs for depression, anxiety, and somatoform disorders. DHIs need to be personalized to the specific needs of the individual. Future research should explore whether the findings could be generalized to other health conditions.

HIV prevention advice for people with serious mental illness.

BACKGROUND: People with serious mental illness have rates of Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) infection higher than expected in the general population for the same demographic area. Despite this elevated prevalence, UK national strategies around sexual health and HIV prevention do not state that people with serious mental illness are a high risk group. However, a significant proportion in this group are sexually active and engage in HIV-risk behaviours including having multiple sexual partners, infrequent use of condoms and trading sex for money or drugs. Therefore we propose the provision of HIV prevention advice could enhance the physical and social well being of this population. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of HIV prevention advice in reducing morbidity, mortality and preserving the quality of life in people with serious mental illness. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Trials Register (24 January 2012; 4 July 2016). SELECTION CRITERIA: We planned to include all randomised controlled trials focusing on HIV prevention advice versus standard care or comparing HIV prevention advice with other more focused methods of delivering care or information for people with serious mental illness. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Review authors (NW, AC, AA, GT) independently screened search results and did not identify any studies that fulfilled the review's criteria. MAIN RESULTS: We did not identify any randomised studies that evaluated advice regarding HIV for people with serious mental illness. The excluded studies illustrate that randomisation of packages of care relevant to both people with serious mental illness and HIV risk are possible. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Policy makers, clinicians, researchers and service users need to collaborate to produce guidance on how best to provide advice for people with serious mental illness in preventing the spread of HIV infection. It is entirely feasible that this could be within the context of a well-designed simple large randomised study.

"Work is good for me": views of mental health service users seeking work during the UK recession, a qualitative analysis.

BACKGROUND: Individual placement and support (IPS) is an effective form of supported employment for people with severe mental illness. Little is known about service users' experiences of these programmes during economic recession. AIMS: Obtain service users' views of an IPS programme implemented in the UK during recession. METHOD: Thirty-one service users enrolled in an IPS programme were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol. The questions covered several areas of their experience, including problems faced in seeking work, perceived barriers in returning to work and what they found helpful in employment support. RESULTS: Unsurprisingly, a large number of service users had problems in finding work due to the number of appropriate jobs available. Nevertheless, many service users felt positively about the support they had received (90% were satisfied with IPS), and would advise others in their position to seek employment. Personal and practical support from employment specialists (ES) was the most useful aspect of the service. CONCLUSIONS: Despite economic recession, an IPS service was implemented and regarded as satisfactory to service users seeking work. Although many found obtaining employment difficult, they would still advise others that work is worthwhile, suggesting that the context of recession has not discouraged them.

HIV prevention advice for people with serious mental illness.

BACKGROUND: People with serious mental illness have rates of Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) infection higher than expected in the general population for the same demographic area. Despite this elevated prevalence, UK national strategies around sexual health and HIV prevention do not state that people with serious mental illness are a high risk group. However, a significant proportion in this group are sexually active and engage in HIV-risk behaviours including having multiple sexual partners, infrequent use of condoms and trading sex for money or drugs. Therefore we propose the provision of HIV prevention advice could enhance the physical and social well being of this population. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of HIV prevention advice in reducing morbidity, mortality and preserving the quality of life in people with serious mental illness. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Trials Register (24 January, 2012), which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, BIOSIS, AMED, EMBASE, PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and registries of clinical trials. There is no language, date, document type, or publication status limitations for inclusion of records in the register. SELECTION CRITERIA: We planned to include all randomised controlled trials focusing on HIV prevention advice versus standard care or comparing HIV prevention advice with other more focused methods of delivering care or information for people with serious mental illness. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Review authors (NW, AC, AA, GT) independently screened search results and did not identify any studies that fulfilled the review's criteria. MAIN RESULTS: We did not identify any randomised studies that evaluated advice regarding HIV for people with serious mental illness. The excluded studies illustrate that randomisation of packages of care relevant to both people with serious mental illness and HIV risk are possible. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Policy makers, clinicians, researchers and service users need to collaborate to produce guidance on how best to provide advice for people with serious mental illness in preventing the spread of HIV infection. It is entirely feasible that this could be within the context of a well-designed simple large randomised study.

Technostress and academic motivation: direct and indirect effects on university students' psychological health.

Introduction: Research has well demonstrated that the pandemic entailed several implications among university students worldwide in terms of increased use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), technostress, disruptions in academic goals and motivation processes, and growing psychological suffering. Responding to the new research need to go in-depth into the processes linking technostress and motivation dimensions to inform current research/interventions, the present study aimed to explore the direct effects of perceived Technostress dimensions (Techno-Overload, Work-Home Conflict, Pace of Change, Techno-Ease, Techno-Reliability, and Techno-Sociality) and Academic Motivation dimensions (Amotivation, Intrinsic, and Extrinsic Motivation dimensions) on students' perceived levels of Anxiety/Depression and test the potential indirect effect (mediating role) of Academic Motivation dimensions in the associations between Technostress and psychological health conditions. Methods: Overall, 1,541 students from five European countries (Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Serbia, United Kingdom) completed a survey comprising a Background Information Form, the Technostress Scale, the Academic Motivation Scale-College, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Hayes' PROCESS tool was used to test direct and indirect (mediating) effects. Results: Data revealed that Techno-Overload, Work-Home Conflict, Amotivation, and Extrinsic Motivation-Introjected had a direct negative effect, whereas Techno-Ease, Techno-Reliability, Techno-Sociality, all Intrinsic Motivation dimensions, and Extrinsic Motivation-Identified had a direct protective role for students' psychological health. The significant indirect role of motivation dimensions in the associations between Technostress dimensions and Anxiety/Depression was fully supported. Discussion: Findings allow gaining further insight into the pathways of relationships between technostress, motivation, and psychological health, to be used in the current phase, featured by the complete restoration of face-to-face contacts, to inform the development of tailored research and interventions, which address lights and shadows of the technology use, and which take into account the necessity to enhance its potentials yet without impairing students' motivation and psychological health.

Implementation of individual placement and support: the Nottingham experience.

TOPIC: This case study describes the implementation of individual placement and support (IPS), an evidence-based approach to employment support for people with severe mental illnesses. The case study draws from the literature on implementation and describes lessons learned from the experience of a large mental health provider in urban Nottingham, United Kingdom. PURPOSE: To inform those who want to implement a new service or IPS in mental health settings. SOURCES USED: Research and policy documents published on implementation and employment support, local experience, and fidelity reviews. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This paper adds to the literature on IPS implementation and highlights issues arising from the current UK recession that affect the competition for available jobs and the service context into which the IPS development has been introduced. The future of IPS depends on its acceptance as an essential aspect of mental health services. IPS implementation also benefits with strong leadership, expert knowledge of implementing IPS in the UK context, commitment from senior managers and clinicians, a capacity to train staff according to IPS principles, and integration of rehabilitation services with mental health treatment. Ongoing funding is also a prerequisite to successful implementation.

Multidimensional scale of perceived social support: psychometric properties in a South Asian population.

AIM: The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) was developed to assess perceived social support, and has been widely used in Western samples. We attempted to translate and adapt this scale into the Urdu language, and herewith report on its psychometric properties in a rural Pakistani setting. METHODS: The study sample consisted of 325 antenatal women who were registered with 'Lady Health Workers' in the Kallar Circle of Rawalpindi district. The subjects were assessed pre- and postnatally with measures of psychiatric distress, and social support and depression, respectively (using a guided structured interview). RESULTS: MSPSS scores were inversely related to measures of psychiatric distress and depression, thus supporting the construct validity of the MSPSS as a measure of social support. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of MSPSS was 0.92. Unlike previous research using the MSPSS in Western studies, the factor analysis revealed a single-factor solution that accounted for 53% of the variance. CONCLUSIONS: The Urdu translation of the MSPSS was found to have good construct validity, and internal consistency. However, the findings suggest that women in the study population perceived social support as a unitary construct, as opposed to a tri-dimensional one as identified in Western samples.

Registered Replication Report: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998).

Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence ("professor") subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence ("soccer hooligans"). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%-3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and -0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the "professor" category and those primed with the "hooligan" category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender.