COVID-19: Vicarious traumatisation and resilience in Mental Health Psychology Practitioners

Almost no nation has been spared as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has swept around the world. As the pandemic has upended much of society, frontline health care workers have shouldered much of the burden. Among other professionals, Mental Health Psychology Practitioners contribute significantly to fighting off the negative psychological effects of COVID-19, including distress, anxiety, and depression – provided they themselves can demonstrate resilience. This qualitative study investigated how Mental Health Psychology Practitioners experience the pandemic and the mechanisms they employ to demonstrate resilience

Resilience in humanitarian aid workers : understanding processes of development

This investigation tested an original theoretical model proposing that dispositional features (e.g. age, gender, intelligence) and cognitive skills (e.g. motivational processes and coping), coupled with environmental protective factors (social support), are utilised to deal with stressful situations, which will result in resilient qualities being developed in the individual. A mixed methoPs approach was adopted to allow greater insight into the concept of resilience and its meaning for the investigated population. A longitudinal survey design w~s developed involving the administration of a structured questionnaire composed of 11 different scales to m.easure key protective/adverse factors in a group ofhumanitarian aid workers (N= 56) preand post-deployment in the fi~ld. Two studies investigating the reliability and validity ofresiljence measures were carried out with student samples (Study I: N= 202; Study II: N= 189) to select the resilience scales to use in the final questionnaire. ~emi-structure~ interviews were conducted in a sub-group of participants (No=: 15) to explor~ stressors related to humanitarian work experiences. Aid staff membe~swere recruited through agencies and by advertising details ofthis study on the Internet. Contrary to what was predicted, two ofthe three areas of protective factors (dispositional and environmental) interrelated and positively influenced the way participants perceived and coped with stress. The third area (cognitive protective factors) was affected by the stress domain and negatively influenced changes in resilience. Low levels of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and burnout were found, and many participants appeared to be willing to go back to the field despite the difficulties encountered during deployment. Findings lend support to the thesis that the three domains of protective factors (dispositional, cognitive, environmental) partially account for the development of post-deploYJllent resilience. They appear to be key dispositional and psychological features protecting people against stress and strengthening them in preparation for future adversity.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Photochromic and photomechanical responses of an amorphous diarylethene-based polymer: a spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation of ultrathin films

This work deals with very thin (14-40 nm) films of a polyester containing diarylethene units in the main chain spin cast on a silicon wafer. By irradiation with UV light the colourless form turns blue due to the appearance of a strong absorption band centred at about 600 nm. The coloured state is thermally stable and the backward conversion can be triggered with visible light. Comparison of broadband (245-1700 nm) spectroscopic ellipsometry data with simulations based on an isotropic, Kramers???Kronig consistent, multiple-resonance model allowed us to determine the complex index of refraction n of the film in its blue and colourless forms. The refractive index of the blue phase neatly exceeds that of the transparent form for wavelengths in the NIR. In particular, out of resonance, at lambda 1700 nm, DeltaRe(n) 0.05. Parallel to the DeltaRe(n) increase, the analysis of ellipsometry data suggests a decrease of the film thickness (about 1.5%) during the transition from the open (transparent) to the closed (coloured) form

Photochromic and photomechanical responses of an amorphous diarylethene-based polymer: a spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation of ultrathin films

This work deals with very thin (14-40 nm) films of a polyester containing diarylethene units in the main chain spin cast on a silicon wafer. By irradiation with UV light the colourless form turns blue due to the appearance of a strong absorption band centred at about 600 nm. The coloured state is thermally stable and the backward conversion can be triggered with visible light. Comparison of broadband (245-1700 nm) spectroscopic ellipsometry data with simulations based on an isotropic, Kramers???Kronig consistent, multiple-resonance model allowed us to determine the complex index of refraction n of the film in its blue and colourless forms. The refractive index of the blue phase neatly exceeds that of the transparent form for wavelengths in the NIR. In particular, out of resonance, at lambda 1700 nm, DeltaRe(n) 0.05. Parallel to the DeltaRe(n) increase, the analysis of ellipsometry data suggests a decrease of the film thickness (about 1.5%) during the transition from the open (transparent) to the closed (coloured) form