Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic hit Austria in March 2020. This led to a considerable reduction in outpatient psychiatric therapies. People with mental disorders as well as with newly emerging mental health issues found themselves with very limited treatment options. Within only a few days our hospital set up an online mental health self-help program which went online in its first version on the first day of the lockdown in Austria. The process of this development and implementation process alongside with the user’s and usage data for the program are presented here.MethodsA small core team initiated the development of the program on a low-budget basis and using mostly freely available digital resources. The program had to be free of costs for its users and easy to navigate. Each self-help module contains a text description of the topic, a self-rating questionnaire and several psychoeducational 2–5 min videos. These videos explain, e.g., interactions of mental stress and the immune system or the vicious circle of anxiety. Additional videos provide easy to learn techniques like breathing and relaxation exercises.ResultsWe illustrate the implementation of this program following the replicating effective program (REP) model. We provide a detailed description of the implementation process starting from a simple website to a smartphone-based application with registered user area and instantaneous reporting of self-rating questionnaire results to users. The described process could be used as a model for the setup of similar programs in a very short time. As an indicator of acceptance, we report 46,100 unique video views and 3,937 completed questionnaires in the first year of use. The most accessed videos were those on anxiety, relaxation and resilience. Analysis of the sociodemographic user data indicate that they were mostly young (< 45 years; 59.7%), females (77.5%) and previously mentally healthy individuals (74.5%). An example of the collected psychometric questionnaire data over time is given.ConclusionWe show that it is possible to set up an online mental health self-help program ad hoc and without extensive prior planning, which enabled us to dynamically respond to a new situation. We are now planning on keeping the program active for a longer period of time to supplement and expand traditional treatment settings also outside the COVID-19 pandemic

Der Zusammenhang von therapeutischen Beziehungen und dem Bindungsmuster der Patientin bzw. des Patienten in der psychodynamischen Gruppenpsychotherapie : eine empirische Studie

Die therapeutische Beziehung gilt sowohl in der Einzelpsychotherapie als auch in der Grup-penpsychotherapie als ein wesentlicher Wirkfaktor. Im Vergleich zu der in der Einzeltherapie vorherrschenden Dyade bietet das gruppentherapeutische Setting ein größeres Angebot an therapeutischen Beziehungen. Neben der Beziehung zum Gruppentherapeuten/zur Gruppen-therapeutin bauen PatientInnen ebenfalls Beziehungen zu den einzelnen Gruppenmitgliedern sowie zur gesamten Therapiegruppe auf. Die therapeutischen Beziehungen, die auf unter-schiedlichen Ebenen ab dem Zeitpunkt der ersten Gruppentherapiesitzung bestehen, werden von unterschiedlichen Aspekten beeinflusst. Einen Aspekt, der alle zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen eines Individuums prägt, stellen die manifestierten Bindungsmuster des Einzel-nen dar. Die Literatur postuliert einen Einfluss des Bindungsstils der PatientInnen auf die therapeutische Beziehung im einzeltherapeutischen Setting. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es zu untersuchen, ob auch im Fall der gruppentherapeutischen Beziehungen ein Zusammenhang mit dem Bindungsmuster der PatientInnen beobachtet werden kann. Die Bindungsmuster der 32 sich in gruppenpsychotherapeutischer Behandlung befindenden PatientInnen wurden hierzu mittels des Bochumer Bindungsinventars(BoBi) erfasst während die therapeutischen Beziehungen in der Gruppenpsychotherapie mit dem Gruppenfragebogen (GQ-D) erhoben wurden. In der vorliegenden Arbeit konnten keine signifikanten Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Bindungsmuster und der Qualität der therapeutischen Beziehungen belegt werden. Gründe hierfür könnten der Stichprobenumfang oder das Design der empirischen Studie sein. Die vorliegende Arbeit reflektiert die Limitationen der Untersuchung kritisch und zeigt Anregungen für zukünftige Forschungsprojekte auf.The therapeutic relationship is known to be aessential therapeutic factor for both individual and group psychotherapy. In comparison with the therapeutic dyad in the individual psycho-therapy, a greater variety of relationships exist in group psychotherapy. Next to the relation-ship to the group therapist, every patient builds a relationship with each individual group member, and then also with the therapy group itself. The therapeutic relationships, which evolve at different rates from the first group therapy session onward, are influenced by a vast number of aspects. A crucial aspect which influences all interpersonal relationships of an in-dividual areeach persons manifest attachment patterns. The literature postulates that the at-tachment patterns of a patient play a crucial role in the therapeutic relationship during indi-vidual psychotherapy. The aim of the following study was to investigate if the connection between the attachment style of the patient and the therapeutic relationships could be found in group therapy as well. The attachment patterns of the 32 patients in group therapeutic treatment were assessed with the BochumerBindungsinventar (BoBi, Bochum attachment inventory) and the therapeutic relationships of the group psychotherapy with the Gruppenfragebogen (GQ-D, group ques-tionnaire). In the present study no significant connection between attachment styles and the quality of the therapeutic relationships could be found.eingereicht von: Leonie Marie Neu, B.ScAbstract in englischer SpracheUniversität Innsbruck, Masterarbeit, 2018(VLID)256359

Why Do We Harm the Environment or Our Personal Health despite Better Knowledge? The Knowledge Action Gap in Healthy and Climate-Friendly Behavior

Non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, or depression, result from an interplay of physiological, genetic, behavioral, and environmental aspects. Together with climate change, they are arguably among the most significant challenges mankind faces in the 21st century. Additionally, the bidirectional influences of climate change and health on each other are undisputed. Behavioral changes could curb both climate change and the spread of non-communicable diseases. Much effort has been put into information campaigns in both fields, but success has been limited. In the following, the knowledge action gap is compared and analyzed in healthy and climate-friendly behavior from a practical point of view and the supporting theoretical models are highlighted. The analysis shows that self-efficacy plays an essential role in both areas of research for effecting behavioral changes. The models of ‘Planned Behavior’ and ‘Stages of Change’ seems helpful and can be applied and adapted to explain behavioral changes in health and climate changes settings. We compared two previously unrelated research fields to uncover new avenues for further study and stimulate fruitful transdisciplinary discussion. Future directions on how behavioral medicine and climate change research can learn from each other are discussed