Socioeconomic impact and sufficiency of government financial support during COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective study.

This study examines the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sufficiency of government support. Based on an online survey with 920 respondents, the cross-tabulation and binary logistic regression results show: firstly, in terms of loss of income, male respondents are more likely to have a loss of income as compared to female counterparts, and secondly, among different categories of employment status, the self-employed respondents are the most vulnerable group, given that more than 20 percent of them experienced loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, respondents working in small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) and the informal sector are more likely to face loss of income as compared to respondents working in other sectors of employment. Likewise, respondents without tertiary education level are more likely to have a loss of income as compared to respondents with university certification. The baseline results highlight the insufficiency of government financial support programs based on the perspective of Malaysians from different demographic backgrounds. As a policy implication, the findings could guide the State in formulating the right policies for target groups who need more assistance than others in the community.

Perceptions of risk and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic among women and older adults.

The world's health, economic, and social systems have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With lockdown measures being a common response strategy in most countries, many individuals were faced with financial and mental health challenges. The current study explored the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological well-being, perception of risk factors and coping strategies of two vulnerable groups in Malaysia, namely women and older adults from low-income households (USD592). A purposive sample of 30 women and 30 older adults was interviewed via telephone during Malaysia's Movement Control Order (MCO) regarding the challenges they faced throughout the pandemic. Thematic analysis was subsequently conducted to identify key themes. The themes identified from the thematic analysis indicated a degree of overlap between both groups. For women, seven themes emerged: 1) Psychological challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic, 2) Family violence, 3) Finance and employment related stress and anxiety, 4) Women's inequality and prejudice, 5) Coping strategies, 6) Professional support, and 7) Women's empowerment. Similarly, there were six themes for the older adults: 1) Adverse emotional experiences from COVID-19, 2) Threats to health security, 3) Loss of social connections, 4) Government aid to improve older adults' psychological well-being, 5) Psychological support from family members and pets, and 6) Self-reliance, religion, and spirituality. The findings provide valuable information on the specific burdens faced by these groups, and support psychological interventions and mitigations that would be appropriate to improve well-being during the recovery phase.

Psychological Wellbeing and Employability of Retrenched Workforce During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Mitigations for Post Pandemic Recovery Phase.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has triggered several employment-related issues, followed by different response strategies. With retrenchment measures being a common response strategy during economic downturns, many individuals have been faced with unemployment. This study aimed to explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic related retrenchment on the psychological wellbeing of the Malaysian workforce, using a qualitative research approach and based on the Latent-deprivation Model. A purposive sample of 30 retrenched participants was interviewed via telephone during Malaysia's Movement Control Order (MCO). Thematic analysis was subsequently conducted to identify key themes in the data set. Six themes emerged from the thematic analysis: (1) Retrenchment leading to the deterioration of psychological wellbeing; (2) Unemployment, financial strain and economic uncertainty; (3) Emotions related to the COVID-19 virus; (4) Coping with lifestyle change; (5) Recommendations to improve the psychological wellbeing and mental health of the retrenched workforce, and (6) Career and financial support at the recovery phase. The present study provides valuable insight into the wellbeing of retrenched workforce who are forced to cope with both unemployment and a global pandemic, and workforce perspectives regarding types of support needed during the recovery phase.

Building the Positive Emotion-Resilience-Coping Efficacy Model for COVID-19 Pandemic.

The world faces unprecedented challenges because of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Existing theories of human flourishing and coping efficacy are too broad and general to address COVID-19 unprecedented mental health challenges. This study examined two main objectives, first the associations between psychological outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) and psychological wellbeing of this phenomenon, and second, moderating and mediating factors emotions, resilience and coping self-efficacy. A nationwide survey was carried out on a Malaysian sample (n = 920). Participants completed an on-line survey that assessed psychological outcomes, psychological wellbeing, positive-negative emotions, resilience, and coping self-efficacy. The relationship between psychological states and psychological wellbeing was successfully mediated by coping self-efficacy (direct effects of -0.31 to -0.46 at p < 0.01) and resilience (direct effects of -0.06 to -0.26 at p < 0.01). Moreover, positive emotion significantly moderated depression (b = -0.02, p < 0.01) and anxiety (b = -0.14, p = 0.05) with psychological wellbeing. Findings highlighted the importance of these factors in developing a dedicated model to be built into the recovery plan to ameliorate the negative impact of COVID-19 on psychological wellbeing. Hence, the Positive Emotion-Resilience-Coping Efficacy Model was developed.

The Mediating Role of Forgiveness and Self-Efficacy in the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Treatment Motivation Among Malaysian Male Drug Addicts.

Studies have reported high rates of childhood maltreatment among individuals with drug addiction problems; however, investigation about the potentially protective factors to mitigate the effects of maltreatment experiences on motivation to engage in addiction treatment has received less attention. This study aims at exploring the mediating effects of forgiveness and self-efficacy on the association between childhood maltreatment and treatment motivation among drug addicts. A total of 360 male drug addicts (mean age = 33.34, SD = 7.25) were recruited from three mandatory inpatient rehabilitation centers in Malaysia. Participants completed a package of self-report questionnaires including measures of childhood maltreatment experiences, forgiveness, self-efficacy, and motivation for treatment. The analysis conducted using the structural equation model (SEM) revealed that childhood maltreatment significantly predicted lower treatment motivation, while forgiveness and self-efficacy played a fully mediating role regarding the effect of childhood maltreatment on treatment motivation. In conclusion, these findings suggest that combining the element of forgiveness and self-efficacy in treatment programs appears to benefit the drug addicts with childhood maltreatment history.

The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Scalp Event-Related Potentials: A Systematic Review.

Several decades of behavioral research have established that variations in socioeconomic status (SES) are related to differences in cognitive performance. Neuroimaging and psychophysiological techniques have recently emerged as a method of choice to better understand the neurobiological processes underlying this phenomenon. Here we present a systematic review of a particular sub-domain of this field. Specifically, we used the PICOS approach to review studies investigating potential relationships between SES and scalp event-related brain potentials (ERP). This review found evidence that SES is related to amplitude variations in a diverse range of ERPs: P1, N1, N2, Error-Related Negativities (ERN), N400, auditory evoked potentials, negative difference waves (Nd), P3 and slow waves (SW). These ERPs include early, mid-latency and late potentials that reflect a broad range of cognitive processes (e.g., automatic attentional processes, overt attention, language, executive function, etc.). In this review, all SES effects on ERPs appeared to reflect an impairment or a less efficient form of task-related neural activity for low-SES compared to high-SES individuals. Overall, these results confirm that a wide variety of distinct neural processes with different functional meanings are sensitive to SES differences. The findings of this review also suggest that the relationship between SES and some ERP components may depend on the developmental stage of study participants. Results are further discussed in terms of the current limitations of this field and future avenues of research.

Survey dataset on the prevalence of childhood maltreatment history among drug addicts in Malaysia.

Studies have consistently shown that childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor for the development of drug addiction across human lifespan. Yet, little is known about the prevalence of childhood maltreatment history among drug addicts in Malaysia. The dataset presented in this article provides demographic information on 200 drug addicts recruited from two rehabilitation centres in Malaysia, the prevalence of different types of childhood maltreatment history and the correlation between all types of maltreatments. Analyses of the data can provide insights into the prevalence of maltreatment history and development of drug addiction, therefore indispensable for mental health professionals designing appropriate interventions for the drug addicts. The data can also provide baseline data for comparative studies in terms of childhood maltreatment history and drug addiction across different countries.