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AIM: To evaluate the impact of a trauma and violence-informed cognitive behavioural therapy (TVICBT) intervention, compared with standard care on mental health, coping, bonding and maternal-infant attachment among pregnant women with a history of intimate partner violence and who displayed symptomatology consistent with anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). DESIGN: A mixed-methods case study design was employed, where women either received standard perinatal care or were referred to a specialized TVICBT program. METHODS: Data were collected through a retrospective obstetric medical chart audit in 2017 at an Ontario hospital in a large urban centre. Multiple choice and 'yes/no' questions were analysed using measures of central tendency and dispersion, in addition to frequency counts. Qualitative data from clinical notes were subjected to an inductive content analysis approach to identify key concepts. RESULTS: In total, 69 women participated (intervention group = 37, standard care group = 32). Prevalence of mental illness between groups was consistent, apart from the TVICBT group having a significant increase in PTSD. In the TVICBT group, 83.8% of women (n = 31) expressed perinatal concerns, compared with only 37.5% (n = 12) of the standard care group. More women in the intervention group (94.6%, n = 35) coped successfully in the intrapartum period than the standard care group (78.1%, n = 25). However, more women in the standard care group (97.0%, n = 31) exhibited appropriate bonding behaviours than the TVICBT group (88.6%, n = 31). CONCLUSION: The TVICBT intervention was effective in assisting women to identify triggers during their pregnancy journey, develop appropriate coping strategies and advocate for their needs to best cope. IMPACT: TVICBT offers an effective, individualized, trauma and violence-informed approach to optimize the health outcomes of perinatal women and their infants by promoting positive coping and maternal-infant bonding, thus filling an existing practice gap of a lack of individualized, trauma-informed care.
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Violência por Parceiro Íntimo , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos , Estudos de Viabilidade , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Gravidez , Gestantes , Estudos Retrospectivos , ViolênciaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Public health measures such as physical distancing and work-from-home initiatives have been implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19. These measures may also be associated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, which could be particularly problematic for those already at highest risk for losing years of healthy life due to chronic disease (i.e., 30-59-year-olds). The purpose of this paper is two-fold: (1) to provide an overview of Ontario adults' health behaviors (i.e., physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and dietary intake), mental health, and well-being during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-July 2020); and (2) to explore the difference between physical activity and various health behaviors (i.e., well-being, mental health, and dietary intake). METHODS: As a part of a larger, longitudinal study, participants completed an online survey that included demographic information, the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, Starting the Conversation, the Mental Health Inventory, and the Personal Wellbeing Index-Adult. Data analyses involved computing measures of central tendency and dispersion for demographic characteristics and tools followed by descriptive statistics. Separate independent t-tests were conducted to investigate the difference between physical activity status and well-being, mental health, and dietary intake. RESULTS: A total of 2157 Ontarians completed an online survey. Descriptive statistics indicated that respondents met physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines, reported double the amount of recommended recreational screen time, practiced moderately healthy dietary behaviors, experienced mental health problems, and scored below "normal" in some well-being domains. CONCLUSION: As the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is currently unknown, its associated restrictions and society changes may influence adults' behaviors in both the short- and longer-term. As such, our findings might provide immediate insight into the development of timely and evidence-informed health promotion and disease prevention strategies for Canadians, which could support adults' health behaviors, mental health, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and other, future pandemics.
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COVID-19 , Pandemias , Adulto , Comportamentos Relacionados com a Saúde , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Saúde Mental , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Ontário/epidemiologia , SARS-CoV-2RESUMO
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the mental health and wellbeing of post-secondary students. Resilience has been found to serve as a protective factor against mental distress among students during the pandemic. Despite the plethora of research that exists on post-secondary students during this crisis, most studies exploring students' health and resilience are quantitative and lack diversity. To date, the lived experiences of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and resilience among graduate students representing diversity in age, gender, ethnicity, parental status, university, degree, and faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic remain unknown. As a part of a larger study, the purpose of this qualitative paper was to understand the lived experiences of resilience and HRQOL among a diverse sample of graduate students approximately 18 months into the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada. A total of 14 students participated in semi-structured interviews exploring HRQOL domains, factors that supported/undermined participants' resilience, challenges/barriers to being resilient, and participants' inner strength. Thematic analysis revealed 5 themes: (1) cultural influences on resilience; (2) the role of privilege/power in shaping resilience; (3) how life stage and past experiences support resilience; (4) how the COVID-19 pandemic has undermined the resilience of equity-deserving groups; and (5) the role of disability/chronic pain. This work presents a unique dichotomy between how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of some graduate students, while simultaneously creating opportunities for others to thrive. Findings from this work underscore the importance of creating inclusive and accessible educational spaces to support graduate students' resilience and HRQOL currently, and in times of crisis.
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COVID-19 , Pandemias , Qualidade de Vida , Resiliência Psicológica , Estudantes , Humanos , COVID-19/psicologia , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Feminino , Masculino , Estudantes/psicologia , Adulto , Ontário/epidemiologia , SARS-CoV-2 , Saúde Mental , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Bolstering women's resilience in the context of gender-based violence (GBV) requires attention to structural conditions needed to support women to thrive, particularly in rural communities. This cross-sectional study explored how resilience was influenced by structural violence in rural Ontario among women experiencing GBV (n = 14) and service providers in the GBV sector (n = 12). Interviews were conducted and revealed forms of structural violence that undermine resilience for women experiencing GBV in rural communities, including 1) housing- gentrification, short-term rentals of residential properties, and long waitlists, 2) income- fighting for enough money to survive, 3) safety- abusers gaming the system, and 4) access- successes and new barriers. Structural conditions must be attended to as they are prerequisites required to build resilience.
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This study employed a life course perspective to explore the resilience of Canadian women of various ages who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Interpretive description was used to analyze 22 in-depth, semi-structured interview transcripts with women who ranged in age from >19 to 60+ years. Results revealed that developmental age affected service accessibility and effectiveness, historical age shaped abuse normalization, and social age presented barriers and facilitators to women's resilience. This study highlighted the central role of resilience for women of all ages who have experienced IPV and emphasized the need for accessible, effective, and supportive services.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the mental health of individuals globally. However, less is known about the characteristics that contributed to some people having mental health problems during the pandemic, while others did not. Mental health problems can be understood on a continuum, ranging from acute (e.g., depression following a stressful event) to severe (e.g., chronic conditions that disrupt everyday functioning). Therefore, the purpose of this article was to generate profiles of adults who were more or less at risk for the development of mental health problems, in general, during the first 16-months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada. Data were collected via online surveys at two time points: April-July 2020 and July-August 2021; 2,188 adults (Mage = 43.15 years; SD = 8.82) participated. Surveys included a demographic questionnaire and four previously validated tools to measure participants' mental health, subjective wellbeing, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, and sleep. A decision tree was generated at each time point for those with mental health problems, and those with no mental health problems. Results showed that subjective wellbeing was the biggest contributor to mental health status. Characteristics associated with no mental health problems among adults included having good wellbeing, being a good sleeper (quantity, quality, and patterns of sleep), and being over the age of 42. Characteristics associated with mental health problems included having poor wellbeing and being a poor sleeper. Findings revealed that specific characteristics interacted to contribute to adults' mental health status during the first 16 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that wellbeing was the biggest contributor to mental health, researchers should focus on targeting adults' wellbeing to improve their mental health during future health crises.
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COVID-19 , Adulto , Humanos , Ontário/epidemiologia , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Pandemias , Saúde Mental , Árvores de DecisõesRESUMO
Intimate partner violence (IPV) includes multiple forms of harm inflicted on an intimate partner. Experiences of IPV impact mental and physical health, social relationships, and parenting and resilience may play an important role in how women overcome these detrimental effects. There is little research on how resilience relates to mothers' experience of IPV. We explored the role of resilience in the context of mothers who have experienced IPV in rural settings via semi-structured interviews with six women and 12 service providers. The relationship between resilience and motherhood was a common theme across all narratives. From this theme emerged three subthemes: 1) breaking the cycle of abuse; 2) giving children the "best life"; and 3) to stay or to leave: deciding "for the kids". Findings underscore the importance of supporting rural women who experience violence in cultivating their resilience and consideration of policy changes which support trauma- and violence-informed care.
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Violência por Parceiro Íntimo , Mães , Poder Familiar , Resiliência Psicológica , População Rural , Humanos , Feminino , Violência por Parceiro Íntimo/psicologia , População Rural/estatística & dados numéricos , Adulto , Mães/psicologia , Ontário , Poder Familiar/psicologia , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Entrevistas como Assunto , Pessoa de Meia-IdadeRESUMO
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive, worldwide public health concern. Risk of IPV may elevate during the perinatal period, increasing maternal and fetal health risks. Trauma- and violence-informed care shows promise among interventions addressing associated mental health sequelae. As a secondary analysis, the purpose of this study was to employ a qualitative arts-based exploration to better understand pregnant women's experiences of trauma and violence-informed perinatal care in the context of IPV. Using an arts-based qualitative methodology, different art forms were used to analyze, interpret, and report data, resulting in a layered exploration to represent phenomena. From this, four themes were reflected in four poetic pieces: Black Deep Corners, Triggering my Thoughts, Breaking through the Brokenness, and Now Perfectly Imperfect. Nine pieces of visual art were created reflecting these themes, creating a layered, embodied, artistic way to empathically explore and translate phenomena.
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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this scoping review was to examine what is known about the relationship between the resilience and mental health of undergraduate students enrolled in university or college programs, globally. METHODS: Five electronic databases were searched, yielding a total of 1,498 articles that were screened independently by two researchers. Thirteen articles were eligible for inclusion. RESULTS: The mental health of undergraduate students in the studies reviewed ranged from low to moderate. Undergraduate students also reported high, moderate, and low levels of resilience. Further, resilience was positively correlated with mental well-being. CONCLUSION: Findings revealed that the mental health of undergraduate students was poor. Given the established relationship between students' mental health and resilience, evidence-based approaches aimed at strengthening students' resilience, such as providing opportunities for social support, are warranted in order to improve students' mental health. Additional research to rigorously assess this relationship in representative student populations is needed.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a collective opportunity to engage in prosocial behaviours, including kindness; however, little is known about the long-term impacts of the pandemic on such behaviours. As a part of a larger study (Health Outcomes for Adults During and Following the COVID-19 Pandemic), the purpose of this mixed methods research was two-fold: (1) to quantitatively explore adults' prosocial behaviour over time during the first 16 months of the pandemic in Ontario, Canada (April 2020-August 2021); and, (2) to more deeply explore, via focus groups, a sub-sample of Ontario adults' lived experiences of prosocial behaviour (assessed March 2022). A total of 2,188 participants were included in this study, with the majority of participants identifying as female (89.5%). At three time points, participants completed online questionnaires which included demographics, Prosocialness Scale for Adults, and three global kindness questions. A subset of participants (n = 42) also participated in one of six focus groups exploring their experiences of prosocial behaviour during the pandemic. A series of one-way repeated measures ANOVAs revealed that participants' self-reported prosocial behaviour increased significantly over time, while participants' awareness of kindness, engagement in acts of kindness, and view of kindness as crucial significantly decreased. Thematic analysis revealed three main themes: (1) shift in prosocial behaviour during the pandemic; (2) kindness from various perspectives; and, (3) prosocial burnout. This study provides insight into the longer-term effects of the pandemic on adults' prosocial behaviours and should be leveraged to help understand how individuals respond in times of crises.
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Altruísmo , COVID-19 , Humanos , Adulto , Feminino , Ontário/epidemiologia , Pandemias , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Esgotamento PsicológicoRESUMO
Objective The purpose of this study was to document sleep quality and assess its sociodemographic, behavioral (i.e., tobacco use, alcohol use, and screen time), and mental-health-related indicators (i.e., anxiety and depression) in adults aged 30-59 years across three states of India, and to geo-locate state and district-level findings of sleep quality during the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods From October 2020 to April 2021, residents (aged 30-59 years) of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi completed a web-based survey that included sociodemographic and behavioral factors, clinical history of COVID-19, and mental health screening instruments for anxiety and depression, namely the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate the quality of sleep. Average PSQI scores were geo-mapped. Results Of the 694 participants who responded, 647 completed the PSQI. The mean (SD) global PSQI score was 5.99 (3.2), with approximately 54% of participants reporting poor sleep quality (PSQI Score>5). Eight hotspot districts with severe sleep disturbances (mean score PSQI>6.5) were identified. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that compared to Madhya Pradesh, participants from Kerala and Delhi had 62% and 33% lower chances of having poor sleep quality, respectively. Those who screened positive for anxiety had higher odds of having poor sleep quality (adjusted odds ratio {aOR}=2.4, P=0.006*). Conclusion Overall, sleep quality was poor during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (October 2020-April 2021), especially among those who reported high levels of anxiety. Among the three included states, there were differences in sleep quality.
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Purpose: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health concern exacerbated by the pandemic. Experiences of violence vary based on geographic location and living in rural communities has been found, in some contexts, to amplify consequences of IPV. Resilience, the ability to survive and thrive despite facing adversity, has long been a dominant narrative within IPV literature, yet little is known about how resilience is cultivated among rural women experiencing violence. The purpose of this study was to explore how rural women experiencing IPV cultivate resilience. Methods: Using Interpretive Description, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 women who experienced IPV and 12 staff from women's shelters across rural communities in Ontario, Canada to elicit perspectives about women's resilience and environmental conditions that may shape resilience in the context of IPV. Results: Women's resilience was cultivated by personal changes aimed at surviving or thriving, and aspects of their environment that enabled or created barriers for resilience. Women adopted a positive, hopeful mindset and bolstered their inner strength through living from a place of integrity, being resolute in decisions, and using mental resistance when faced with doubt. Women faced barriers to resilience in the form of unhelpful help and COVID-19 public health guidelines. Paradoxically, living in a rural community both cultivated and undermined resilience. Conclusions: Supporting women to cultivate resilience through modifying environmental factors to enable personal strengths to flourish is paramount in supporting women who have experienced IPV, particularly in rural contexts.
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OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate Ontario adults' reported sleep quantity, quality, and disturbances during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-July 2020). METHODS: As part of a larger, chronic disease-focused, and ongoing longitudinal study designed to explore Ontario adults' health and wellness-related behaviors during the pandemic, participants completed an online survey that included demographic information and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The PSQI consists of 19 items, one of which is open-ended, designed to assess an individual's quantity, quality, and patterns of sleep on seven domains (ie, subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction over the last month). Summative content analysis was used to analyze responses to the open-ended question regarding participants' sleep disturbances. RESULTS: This study included 2192 individuals, 85% of whom slept 6+ hours/night. The mean global PSQI score was 7.57, out of a possible 21 (SD = 4.09). The self-reported sleep disturbances of largest concern were: (1) general fear/anxiety/worry (n = 203); (2) children (n = 167); (3) mind wandering/overthinking (n = 118); (4) pain/injury (n = 78); (5) partner (n = 78); and (6) fear/anxiety/stress related to COVID-19 (n = 74). CONCLUSION: The global PSQI score was indicative of poor sleep quality, and Ontario adults experienced a number of sleep disturbances during early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings are noteworthy as sleep is a crucial component in positive health and wellbeing.
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COVID-19 , Transtornos do Sono-Vigília , Adulto , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Criança , Estudos Transversais , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Pandemias , Sono/fisiologia , Transtornos do Sono-Vigília/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Background: Strict public health measures central to slowing the spread of COVID-19 have, unintentionally, exacerbated risks for women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) while impeding their usual coping strategies. The goal of this study was to understand how coping was influenced by COVID-19 for women who have experienced IPV and identify changes in coping strategies and gaps that need to be addressed to support coping. Methods: A qualitatively driven, sequential, cross-sectional design, where quantitative data informed and was embedded within qualitative data collection, was used to explore the experiences of IPV (CAS-R-SF scale) and coping (Brief-COPE scale) specific to IPV of 95 Canadian women. A subset of 19 women was invited to complete an interview exploring coping strategies identified within the survey to contextualize and validate these findings. Results: Survey data subjected to quantitative content analysis identified ten themes, all of which were explored in semi-structured interviews. Thematic interview findings included (1) influence of COVID-19 on coping, (2) coping during COVID-19, and (3) needed coping strategies. Conclusion: COVID-19 had important impacts on the experiences and coping strategies of women who experience IPV. To better support this population in pandemic circumstances, in-person services should be prioritized with an emphasis on accessible and empathetic care. Public health measures in response to COVID-19, and the eventuality of future pandemics, should aim to be gender- and violence-informed.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant public health measures, although helpful in reducing the spread of the disease, have disproportionately impacted women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Despite these adverse circumstances, women continue to show resilience. Although difficult to define, resilience can be conceptualized as a dynamic process in which psychosocial and environmental factors interact to enable an individual to survive, grow, and thrive despite exposure to adversity. This research identifies facilitators and gaps in supports to promoting resilience among urban and rural women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) during the COVID-19 pandemic, via an online survey (n = 95) and interviews (n = 19). T-tests, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, and interpretive description were utilized for analyses. Almost 41% of participants experienced an increase in abuse during COVID-19, and resilience significantly decreased during COVID-19 (t(44) = 2.91, p = 0.006). Qualitatively, four parent themes (coercive control, social services, resilience, and future) and seven sub-themes emerged. Changes are needed in accessibility and delivery of support services for women experiencing IPV during COVID-19, and future pandemics.