Gerontology and youth-focused service learning: the relation between service recipient age and student responses.

Service learning is a pedagogical technique that integrates traditional coursework with activities outside the classroom that meet the needs of the community. Gerontology-focused service learning has been incorporated into many courses that cover aging content and is believed to be beneficial to the learning process. Other research has demonstrated that service learning in general has benefits, regardless of the age of the service recipient. It is unclear whether benefits associated with gerontology-focused service learning are unique to experiences with older adults or are a product of the general benefits associated with this pedagogy. This study examined student responses to gerontology-focused service learning compared to youth-focused service learning. The results revealed that students working with older adults reported more negative expectations related to the assignment, more positive experiences interacting with the service recipients, and more reports of learning benefits attributed to service learning.

Exposure to potentially morally injurious events and mental health outcomes among frontline workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The current studies explored associations between exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) and mental health outcomes among frontline workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic. METHOD: We administered online self-report surveys to emergency responders (N = 473) and hospital personnel (N = 854) in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States between April and June of 2020. Surveys assessed frequency and intensity of exposure to PMIEs alongside psychological and functional outcomes. RESULTS: Between 20% and 30% of frontline workers reported exposure to PMIEs of at least moderate frequency and intensity. Exposure to more intense PMIEs was associated with greater psychological symptoms (i.e., stress, depression, and anxiety) and functional impairment (i.e., professional burnout), especially among emergency responders who reported frequent exposure but also hospital workers who reported few exposures. CONCLUSION: Efforts to facilitate and maintain the well-being of the public health workforce should specifically address critical incidents encountered by frontline workers that have embedded moral and ethical challenges. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Moral injury and psychosocial functioning in health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Studies of moral injury among nonmilitary samples are scarce despite repeated calls to examine the prevalence and outcomes of moral injury among civilian frontline workers. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of moral injury and to examine its association with psychosocial functioning among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed health care workers (N = 480), assessing exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) and psychosocial functioning. Data were analyzed using latent class analysis (LCA) to explore patterns of PMIE exposure (i.e., classes) and corresponding psychosocial functioning. The minimal exposure class, who denied PMIE exposure, accounted for 22% of health care workers. The moral injury-other class included those who had witnessed PMIEs for which others were responsible and felt betrayed (26%). The moral injury-self class comprised those who felt they transgressed their own values in addition to witnessing others' transgressions and feeling betrayed (11%). The betrayal-only class included those who felt betrayed by government and community members but otherwise denied PMIE exposure (41%). Those assigned to the moral injury-self class were the most impaired on a psychosocial functioning composite, followed by those assigned to the moral injury-other and betrayal-only classes, and finally the minimal exposure class. Moral injury is prevalent and impairing for health care workers, which establishes a need for interventions with health care workers in organized care settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Keyboard coercion: Online and face-to-face sexual aggression in a college sample.

Objective: This work sought to assess relationships between sexually aggressive behavior occurring through the use of technology and social media, perceived social norms of sexually aggressive behavior, and face-to-face sexual aggression and coercion. Participants: Participants were 663 undergraduate students (73.1% Female). Methods: Participants completed measures assessing perceived social norms of sexually aggressive strategies, personal sexual strategies used, alcohol use, cyberbullying, sexual victimization, personal wellbeing, and socially desirable responding. Results: Thirty percent of participants reported engaging in some form of sexually aggressive behavior offline; 15.6% endorsed engaging in sexual cyberbullying. However, 100% of participants endorsed the belief that their peers were engaging in some form of sexually aggressive behavior either online or offline. Conditional process modeling revealed a significant indirect effect of perceived social norms of sexually aggressive behavior on face-to-face sexual aggression via sexual cyberbullying (b = .0015, p < .001, 95% CI [.0030, .0110]), indicating mediation. Conclusions: The present work highlights the importance of further research in the domain of sexual cyberbullying.

Mental health risks differentially associated with immunocompromised status among healthcare workers and family members at the pandemic outset.

The mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) is critical to their long-term well-being and future disaster preparedness. Goal 1 of this study was to identify rates of mental health problems experienced by HCWs. Goal 2 was to test a model of risk stemming from pandemic-related stressors and vulnerability factors. This cross-sectional study included HCWs (N â€‹= â€‹2,246 [1,573 clinical providers; 673 non-clinical staff]) in the Rocky Mountain West who voluntarily completed an online survey in April/May 2020. Respondents completed measures for traumatic stress symptoms, depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and sleep. Logistic regressions stratified by professional role (clinical versus non-clinical) were specified to predict clinical screening cutoff (positive/negative) as a function of five pandemic-related stressors (immunocompromised self; immunocompromised household member; care provision to infected patients; clinical management role; positive cases). Results showed that more than half of HCWs surveyed (52.5%) screened positive (above cutoff) for traumatic stress, depression, or anxiety, with ~20% reporting problematic alcohol use, and variable insufficient sleep from ~10% off shift to ~50% on shift. Clinical employees with an immunocompromised household member had increased odds of screening positive for a mental health problem. Non-clinical HCWs who were immunocompromised were at elevated risk for screening positive a mental health problem. Being female, minority status, and younger increased odds for mental health problems. Implications include alleviating a portion of the mental health burden of HCWs involved in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by considering policies to protect immunocompromised HCWs and their families (e.g., vaccine priorities, telework options).

The Effect of Optimism and Connectedness on Psychological Adjustment of Children with Cancer and Comparison Peers.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to examine the relationship of optimism and connectedness with psychological adjustment outcomes in children with cancer and determine whether these relations differ for children with cancer and comparison peers. METHODS: Participants were 155 children with cancer and 143 comparison youth without a history of cancer, aged 8 to 17 years at study entry, who were followed longitudinally over a 3-year period. Participants completed self-report measures at 3 time points: baseline optimism at study entry (T1), connectedness at 1 year after baseline (T2), and emotional symptoms at 3 years after baseline (T3). A series of regression analyses were conducted using conditional process analysis to examine whether connectedness mediated the relationship between optimism and psychological adjustment and whether this was moderated by health status (i.e., history of childhood cancer vs no history of cancer or other serious or chronic illness). RESULTS: Connectedness to parents, peers, and friends significantly mediated the relationship between optimism and psychological adjustment (b parents = -0.1387, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.2341 to -0.0515]; b peers = -0.2021, 95% CI [-0.3575 to -0.0818]; b friends = -0.0703, 95% CI [-0.1640 to -0.0050]). However, this mediation was not significantly moderated by having a history of cancer. Cancer history did moderate the direct relationship between optimism and psychological adjustment and between connectedness to parents and psychological adjustment. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that patients with cancer are doing remarkably well with regard to adjustment. Connectedness with parents and peers mediates the relationship between optimism and psychological adjustment. As such, children with cancer who are identified as experiencing poor adjustment may benefit from interventions to foster connectedness.