Upplevelser av gruppbaserad RAINBOW för ungdomar med bipolär sjukdom - Behandlingsprocesser och -utfall ur ett patientperspektiv

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur patienter upplevde deltagandet i en gruppbaserad behandling kallad RAINBOW. RAINBOW är en psykosocial behandlingsmodell för ungdomar med bipolär sjukdom och deras föräldrar. Halvstrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med fyra ungdomar som tidigare deltagit i behandling enligt RAINBOW-modellen. Intervjumaterialet analyserades med hjälp av grundad teori vilket resulterade i sex huvudteman: Identifikation med diagnosen, Känsla av gemenskap, Gjorde inte hemuppgifter, Teoretisk kunskap, Problemhantering och rutiner, samt Mammas lärande. Resultatet tyder på att ungdomarnas upplevelse av sin pågående medicinering, om de var motiverade att gå i behandlingen och relationerna till deras föräldrar verkar vara faktorer som inverkar på upplevelsen av behandlingen och dess utfall. Vidare framkommer att hur ungdomarna förhåller sig till behandlingsgruppens gemenskap och i vilken utsträckning de utför hemuppgifterna kan vara relaterade till upplevelsen av behandlingen och dess utfall. Två av ungdomarna rapporterade begränsade behandlingseffekter. Två ungdomar upplevde att behandlingen hade haft effekt i form av ökad kunskap om sjukdomen, förbättrade rutiner, ökad förmåga att hantera problem och en förbättrad relation med sin mamma. Resultatet visar också att ungdomarna i denna studie uppfattar RAINBOW som en gruppbehandling och inte som en familjebehandling.The aim of this study was to explore patients’ experiences of having participated in a group treatment called RAINBOW. RAINBOW is a psychosocial treatment for adolescents with bipolar disorder and their parents. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four adolescents who previously had participated in RAINBOW. Grounded theory was used to analyze the data and six main themes were identified: Identification with the diagnosis, Sense of affinity; Not completing home assignments; Theoretical knowledge; Problem-solving and routines; and Mothers’ learning. The results suggest that the teenager’s experience of their medications, their motivation to participate in the treatment and youth-parent relations seems to be factors influencing the experience of the treatment. Furthermore, how the adolescents relate to the treatment group affinity and to what extent they complete assignments could be factors affecting the experience of the treatment and treatment outcome. Two adolescents reported a limited treatment outcome. Two adolescents experienced treatment outcome in the form of increased ability to address problems, improved routines, improved relationship with their mothers and increased knowledge about the disorder. The result also indicates that the youths in this study perceive RAINBOW as a group treatment rather than a family treatment

Fearing the Disease or the Vaccine:The Case of COVID-19

As studies indicate that people perceive COVID-19 as a threatening disease, the demand for a vaccine against the disease could be expected to be high. Vaccine safety concerns might nevertheless outweigh the perceived disease risks when an individual decides whether or not to accept the vaccine. We investigated the role of perceived risk of COVID-19 (i.e., perceived likelihood of infection, perceived disease severity, and disease-related worry) and perceived safety of a prospective vaccine against COVID-19 in predicting intentions to accept a COVID-19 vaccine. Three Finnish samples were surveyed: 825 parents of small children, 205 individuals living in an area with suboptimal vaccination coverage, and 1325 Facebook users nationwide. As points of reference, we compared the perceptions of COVID-19 to those of influenza and measles. COVID-19 was perceived as a threatening disease—more so than influenza and measles. The strongest predictor of COVID-19 vaccination intentions was trusting the safety of the potential vaccine. Those perceiving COVID-19 as a severe disease were also slightly more intent on taking a COVID-19 vaccine. Informing the public about the safety of a forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine should be the focus for health authorities aiming to achieve a high vaccine uptake

The Behavioral Immune System and Vaccination Intentions During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The behavioral immune system is considered to be a psychological adaptation that decreases the risk of infection. Research suggests that, in the current environment, this system can produce attitudes with negative health consequences, such as increased vaccine hesitancy. In three studies, we investigated whether two facets of the behavioral immune system—germ aversion (i.e., aversion to potential pathogen transmission) and perceived infectability (i.e., perceived susceptibility to disease)—predicted intentions to accept COVID-19 and influenza vaccination during the pandemic. The behavioral immune system mechanisms were measured before the COVID-19 pandemic in one study, and during the pandemic in two. In contrast to previous research, those with higher germ aversion during the pandemic perceived vaccines to be safer and had higher intentions to accept vaccination. Germ aversion before the pandemic was not associated with vaccination intentions. Individuals who perceived themselves as more susceptible to disease were slightly more willing to accept vaccination. We conjecture that high disease threat reverses the relationship between the behavioral immune system response and vaccination. As the associations were weak, individual differences in germ aversion and perceived infectability are of little practical relevance for vaccine uptake

Sex‐specific role of alexithymia in associations between parental bonding and mental health: A moderated mediation model

Objective: This study aimed to explore the role of alexithymia and potential sex differences in the associations between perceived parental bonding and mental health.Methods: The sample consists of 2421 parents from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study who completed the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the anxiety subscale of the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). Moderated mediation analyses were conducted to examine possible mediating role of alexithymia and moderating role of sex in the associations between parental bonding and depressive/anxiety symptomsResults: Alexithymia was found to be a potential mediator and sex be a moderator in the relations between perceived dysfunctional parental bonding and the psychological symptoms. Specifically, dysfunctional paternal bonding, especially paternal overprotection, had stronger indirect effects (via alexithymia) on the psychological symptoms in males.Conclusions: This study indicates the importance of alexithymia in the parenting-related mental health impacts and highlights the significance of paternal bonding for the development of alexithymia and mental health problems in male populations. The findings improve the limited understanding of sex-related parental factors for alexithymia and mental health problems. Future studies in longitudinal designs are warranted to clarify the causal process of the mediation.</p

Vanhempien masennus- ja ahdistusoireet lisääntyivät COVID-19-pandemian alkuvaiheessa - FinnBrain-syntymäkohorttitutkimus

JOHDANTO : Aikuisten psyykkisen oireilun on havaittu lisääntyneen COVID-19-pandemian aikana. Harvassa tutkimuksessa on selvitetty pienten ja kouluikäisten lasten vanhempien oireiden muutosta toistomittausasetelmassa.MENETELMÄT : FinnBrain-syntymäkohorttiin osallistuvien 5-8-vuotiaiden lasten 651 vanhemman pandemiakeväänä (toukokuu 2020) raportoimia masennus- ja ahdistusoireita verrattiin pandemiaa edeltäneeseen aikaan (kun lapsi oli kahden tai neljän vuoden ikäinen vuosina 2014-2019). TULOKSET : Vastaajien masennus- ja ahdistusoireet lisääntyivät pandemiaa edeltäneeseen aikaan verrattuna. Masennuksen seulonta-arvon (EPDS ≥ 10) ylittävien vastaajien määrä jopa kaksinkertaistui (15 % vs 28 %, p ​​​​​​​PÄÄTELMÄT : Koska vanhempien psyykkinen hyvinvointi on ratkaisevaa lasten hyvinvoinnin kannalta, on tärkeää tunnistaa pandemiaan liittyvä pienten ja kouluikäisten lasten vanhempien kuormittuneisuus. Elinpiirin kaventumisesta kärsiville ja jo oireileville vanhemmille tulisi tarjota riittävää tukea.</p

Association between parental alexithymic traits and self-reported postnatal reflective functioning in a birth cohort population Findings from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) refers to a parent's effort to see his/her child as a separate individual person from early on, and to be curious of the child's own thoughts and feelings. Parenting abilities are affected by the parent's emotion regulation and emotional availability. Alexithymia as a personality construct with emotional deficits and poor imagination could potentially affect also PRF, but studies on parental alexithymia are still scarce. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between parental alexithymic traits and PRF, which to date has not been explored. As most of the parenting research concern only mothers, an additional aim was to study also fathers. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the 14-item Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ-Fi) were filled by 1882 mothers and 994 fathers at six months postpartum as part of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. A significant negative association between TAS-20 total score and PRFQ-Fi total score among both genders was found. The main alexithymia dimension responsible for this association was Externally Oriented Thinking. The results suggest that alexithymic traits indeed are related to parental reflective functioning, but more studies are needed to explore the direction of this relation

Trajectories of COVID-19 pandemic-related depressive symptoms and potential predictors : the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study

Purpose: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health problems have been reported, and parents of young children may be more vulnerable to psychological distress due to increased caregiving responsibilities. However, research on the heterogeneity of the longitudinal course of psychological symptoms during the pandemic and the predispositions linked with these courses is still scarce. This study aimed to identify differential trajectories of depressive symptoms among the parents of young children and investigate the role of temperament traits, alexithymia, and coping styles in the heterogeneity of the symptom trajectories. Methods: The sample consists of 844 parents from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. Latent growth mixture modeling was utilized to identify trajectories of depressive symptoms from pre-pandemic between 2014 and 2019 (T0, the closest available measurement was used) to May/June 2020 (T1) and December 2020 (T2) during the pandemic. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine temperament, alexithymia, and coping as predictors of symptom trajectories, controlling for various background factors. Results: Four trajectories of depressive symptoms were identified. Most parents experienced low and stable depressive symptoms. Negative affect, effortful control, alexithymia, emotion-diverting coping (self-distraction and venting), and avoidant coping (denial and behavioral disengagement) were predictors for subclinical stable depressive symptoms. Constructive coping (positive reframing, acceptance, and humor) protected the cohort parents from increasing or moderately high depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The findings have implications for identifying vulnerable individuals with specific traits and strengthening of constructive coping strategies as possible foci in interventions for depression during global crises.Peer reviewe