Psychiatric symptoms and couple satisfaction in parents of newborns before and during the COVID-19 pandemic-A comparison of two prospective studies.

AIMS: To assess anxiety, depression, perceived stress, couple satisfaction and life satisfaction of parents of healthy newborns in two cohorts in 2015 and in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: A prospective follow-up study. METHODS: We enrolled 60 parents of healthy newborns (n = 30 dyads) in 2015 and 60 parents (n = 30 dyads) in 2020. Both parents completed six valid and reliable questionnaires independently 1-2 days and 12 months after delivery: Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Couple Satisfaction Index and Life Satisfaction Scale-4. RESULTS: Anxiety was more common but couple satisfaction better in both parents during the COVID-19 pandemic than in 2015. Depressive symptoms and perceived stress were similarly low, and life satisfaction was similarly high in both cohorts, indicating ample parental resilience. There was a moderate positive association between previous mental health disorders and parental anxiety after delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resilience, pain, and health-related quality of life in gynecological patients undergoing surgery for benign and malignant conditions: a 12-month follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: Gynecological surgery has many impacts on women's physical and mental health, and efforts to improve recovery from surgery are constantly under evaluation. Resilience is an ability to overcome stressors and adversities, such as traumas and surgeries. This study aimed to explore patients' resilience and psychological symptoms in relation to recovery, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and pain one year after gynecological surgery. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study, we enrolled consecutive elective gynecologic surgery patients who completed questionnaires before and at one year after surgery: the Resilience Scale-25, the 15D instrument of HRQoL (15D), the Life Satisfaction Scale-4, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Their mean 15D scores were compared to those of an age-matched sample of women from the general Finnish population (n = 2743). RESULTS: We enrolled 271 women who underwent gynecological surgery due to benign (n = 190) and malignant (n = 81) diagnoses. Resilience was equally high in women with benign and malignant diagnoses at both time points. Higher resilience associated with less pain, analgesic use, and better pain relief from the use of pain medication at 12 months after surgery. Pain intensity was similar in the two groups, but patients with benign diseases had less pain at 12 months than before surgery. Before surgery, patients' HRQoL was worse than that of the general population, but at 12 months the mean HRQoL of patients with benign diseases had improved to the same level as that in the general population but had decreased further in patients with malignant diseases. Anxiety was higher and life satisfaction was lower in patients with malignant diseases before surgery. At 12 months, anxiety had decreased in both groups, and life satisfaction had increased in patients with malignant diseases. Depression was similarly low in both groups and time points. CONCLUSIONS: Resilience correlated with less pain one year after surgery. After surgery, HRQoL improved in patients with benign diseases but deteriorated in patients with malignant diseases. Patients with low resilience should be identified during preoperative evaluation, and health care professionals should give these patients psychological support to enhance their resilience. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov; registered October 29, 2019; identifier: NCT04142203; retrospectively registered.

Psychiatric Symptoms, Posttraumatic Growth, and Life Satisfaction Among Parents of Seriously Ill Infants: A Prospective Case-Controlled Study.

We evaluated psychiatric symptoms, posttraumatic growth, and life satisfaction among the parents (n = 34) of newborns (n = 17) requiring therapeutic hypothermia or urgent surgery (interest group). Our control group included 60 parents of healthy newborns (n = 30). The first surveys were completed soon after diagnosis or delivery and the follow-up surveys 1 year later (participation rate 88% in the interest group and 70% in the control group). General stress was common in both groups but was more prevalent in the interest group as were depressive symptoms, too. Anxiety was more common in the interest group, although it showed a decrease from the baseline in both groups. Life satisfaction had an inverse correlation with all measures of psychiatric symptoms, and it was lower in the interest group in the early stage, but similar at 12 months due to the slight decline in the control group. Mothers in the interest group had more anxiety and depressive symptoms than fathers in the early stage. Mothers had more traumatic distress than fathers at both time points. Half of the parents experienced substantial posttraumatic growth at 12 months. In conclusion, the serious illness of an infant substantially affects the well-being of the parents in the early stages of illness and one year after the illness.

Resilience and health-related quality of life in patients with pulmonary diseases receiving ambulatory oxygen therapy.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary diseases affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL), but there are few data on patients' adaptation to a serious illness. This study assessed resilience and its associations with HRQoL, life satisfaction, anxiety and depression in patients with pulmonary diseases receiving ambulatory oxygen therapy. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, we enrolled 42 patients with pulmonary diseases receiving ambulatory oxygen therapy. The patients completed the following questionnaires at baseline and after one and three months; the Resilience Scale-25, the Life Satisfaction Scale-4, the 15D instrument of HRQoL, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology (QUEST 2.0). To compare HRQoL, we recruited age- and gender-matched controls from the general population (n = 3574). The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with low resilience. RESULTS: Half (42-48%) of the patients had low resilience, which was correlated with low HRQoL, low levels of life satisfaction and higher levels of anxiety and depression. Patients had very low HRQoL compared to controls. Dissatisfaction with life increased during the 3-months follow-up, but only a few patients had anxiety or depression. Patient satisfaction with assistive technology was high; the median QUEST 2.0 score (scale 1-5) was 4.00 at baseline, 3.92 at one month and 3.88 at three months. CONCLUSIONS: Resilience was low in half of the patients with pulmonary diseases receiving ambulatory oxygen therapy. Higher resilience was positively correlated with HRQoL and life satisfaction and negatively correlated with anxiety and depression. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Record 507A023. Registered 17 September 2020-Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=&term=NCT04554225&cntry=&state=&city=&dist= .

Resilience in children and their parents enduring pediatric medical traumatic stress.

Due to the general lack of familiarity with the concept in the medical field, resilience is rarely considered in pediatric medical traumas. Resilience is an ability that enables recovery after adversities such as traumas, surgeries, serious health problems, or social issues. Stress from medical traumas encompasses both the psychological and physical responses of children and their families. Lack of resilience in children with medical traumatic stress may contribute to poor adjustment, slow recovery, disruptive behaviors, and psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, persistent parental distress increases the child's risk of low resilience. Consequently, these patients and their parents require early identification. This is achievable using a common stress measure such as the Perceived Stress Scale. Moreover, health care providers can screen patients' risks for low resilience, which include few social contacts, poor family functioning, and low cohesion among family members. Findings from the stress scale and screened risks could indicate the need for additional psychosocial support at the time of diagnosis of a serious illness, soon after injuries, and before and after operations. Such interventions can include decreasing distress, counseling children and their parents, and enabling strong connections to health care providers. Health care providers can help parents to minimize distress and adjust to their child's illness, thereby supporting the child's resilience, adjustment, and recovery.