Evaluation of online adaptive yoga for psychological well-being in adults with disabilities.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the preliminary effectiveness of an online, community-based adaptive yoga program on mindfulness, social connectedness, life satisfaction, and communicative participation. RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN: Adults (N = 48) were from a U.S. Midwest rehabilitation program and modally identified as White (73%), women (68%), and in their 30s (24%). One-third (35%) of participants were able to walk independently, and cerebral palsy was the most common primary disability diagnosis (32%). The 90-min adaptive yoga program and assessments were offered online weekly for 6 weeks, in which data from 29 participants across three sessions were included in the present analyses. RESULTS: Regarding our primary outcome of interest, there was a statistically significant positive increase in mindfulness over time, F(1, 28) = 5.66, p = .02, with a strong effect size, d = 2.43. All secondary variables had statistically nonsignificant changes over time, although with large effect sizes: social connectedness (d = 0.77), life satisfaction (d = 0.92), and communicative participation (d = 0.40). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The present study provides support for well-being programs for an underserved group; specifically, an online adaptive yoga program with routine outcome monitoring assessments has preliminary effectiveness in increasing mindfulness. Consideration of such well-being programs alongside insurance would be an important policy consideration. Further controlled research is necessary to draw decisive conclusions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

US college student mental health and COVID-19: Comparing pre-pandemic and pandemic timepoints.

OBJECTIVE: To assess mental health in US undergraduates during COVID-19; to identify key pandemic-related stressors, perceived control, and coping and their associations with mental health. PARTICIPANTS: Data collected from a sample of undergraduates in April 2020 (N = 312) were compared to data collected in Spring 2017 (N = 362). METHODS: Online measures of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms and perceived control and coping (both samples); pandemic-related stressors and perceived benefits (April 2020). RESULTS: Depression and stress symptoms were higher in April 2020 than in 2017. Most students reported perceiving at least some pandemic-related benefits. Top-rated stressors involved missing seeing friends and school-related stressors. Perceived control and approach coping were lower during the pandemic but related to better mental health; avoidant coping was higher during the pandemic and related to poorer mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Findings can inform campuses regarding how to improve student mental health during COVID and beyond.

Association Between Communicative Participation and Psychosocial Factors in Patients With Voice Disorders.

IMPORTANCE: Communicative participation can be conceptualized as taking part in life situations in which people are socially engaged. Communicative participation is an important aspect in the lives of patients with voice disorders, although it has not been formally assessed among a broad sample of patients with voice disorders. The associations between communicative participation and associated concepts (vocal impairment, psychosocial distress, and voice-specific perceived control) are unknown yet important for integrated treatment approaches. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to examine the associations between communicative participation and vocal impairment, psychosocial distress, and voice-specific perceived control. The secondary objective was to examine whether perceived control moderates the association of distress with communicative participation and vocal impairment, the latter of which would replicate previous research. The hypotheses were that communicative participation would be associated with lower vocal impairment, lower distress, and higher perceived control and that higher perceived control would moderate the association between communicative participation and both vocal impairment and psychosocial distress. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2014 to May 2017 among a consecutive sample of adult patients with voice disorders at an academic voice clinic affiliated with the University of Minnesota. Of the 744 patients approached to participate in the survey study, 590 patients agreed. Data analysis was performed from January to June 2020. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Communicative participation (measured by the 10-item general short form of the Communicative Participation Item Bank), vocal impairment (measured by the 10-item version of the Voice Handicap Index), psychosocial distress (measured by the 18-item version of the Brief Symptom Inventory), and voice-specific perceived control (measured by the 8-item present control subscale of the Perceived Control Over Stressful Events Scale). RESULTS: The sample comprised 590 patients (mean [SD] age, 51.9 [17.1] years; 390 women [66.1%]) with voice disorders. Communicative participation was associated with lower vocal impairment (r = -0.73; 95% CI, -0.77 to -0.69), lower overall psychosocial distress (r = -0.22; 95% CI, -0.30 to -0.14), and higher voice-specific perceived control (r = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.23-0.37). Moderation analyses indicated that communicative participation was negatively associated with distress at all levels of perceived control and, replicating previous findings, greater vocal impairment was associated with higher psychosocial distress only in patients with lower perceived control. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this study, communicative participation was associated with, but distinct from, vocal impairment and was also associated with psychosocial distress and voice-specific perceived control. The study's results suggest that communicative participation is an important addition to voice research and clinical care.