The impact of video-game on aggressive behaviors among adolescents in Saudi Arabia: a national study

Background: Children and teenagers frequently use video games as a form of entertainment. Although the middle east has one of the fastest-growing video game user populations, most studies need more national data to demonstrate the prevalence of playing video games and its effects on aggressive and mental health behaviours. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of video game use and its association with aggressive behaviours among adolescents in Saudi Arabia.Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study involving males and females, aged 15-18 years, in both private and public secondary schools in the five main regions of Saudi Arabia. A modified aggression questionnaire comprised 29 items and scored on a 5-point Likert scale was electronically self-administered for each participant. This survey measured hostility, verbal aggression, physical aggression, and anger.Results: A total of 4,840 students participated in the study with an average age of 16.15±3.98 years. Males frequently played video games compared with females (p<0.0001). The average playing time per day was significant across males (p<0.0001). Females were more likely to show anger and hostility (p<0.0001 for both). However, males were more likely to show physical aggression (p<0.0001).Conclusions: Our study suggests that playing video games might associate with violent behaviours among adolescents in Saudi Arabia. This conclusion is supported by previous international studies. Increasing families’ awareness about video games and their impact on mental health and behaviours would help them identify their benefits and drawbacks

Knowledge, attitudes and practice among high school teachers toward students with mental disorders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Mental disorders are highly prevalent among adolescents, and they correlate negatively with students’ achievement, performance, and leadless school engagement and participation. School Teachers can contribute significantly to the early detection and intervention strategies for mental disorders among adolescents. This study estimates high school teachers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice toward mental disorders and determines the association between selected demographic factors.Methods: The ethical committee of King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, approved this cross-sectional study. Multistage random sampling was done, which included 62 male and 48 female high schools in Riyadh between August and December 2021. An Anonymous self-administered questionnaire consisting of 39-item was used for data collection.Results: A total 487 responses were received from the high school teachers, on a scale of 10 maximum score, only (60.4%) showed adequate knowledge regarding mental disorders. Even though, Majority of teachers (76.2%) show a favorable attitude toward mental disorders on a scale of 24 maximum scores. Furthermore, approximately one-third of study participants (34.4%) on a scale of 4 points maximum show good practice toward mental disorders.     Conclusions: This study revealed teachers’ lack of knowledge about mental disorders with poor practice. Even though school teachers have shown favourable attitudes in most aspects toward mental disorders, implantation of the mental health literacy program is recommended to enhance the essential role of school staff in providing the needed support for promoting student mental health

SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 UK Variant of Concern Lineage-Related Perceptions, COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Travel Worry Among Healthcare Workers

Background: Healthcare workers' (HCWs') travel-related anxiety needs to be assessed in light of the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 mutations. Methods: An online, cross-sectional questionnaire among HCWs between December 21, 2020 to January 7, 2021. The outcome variables were HCWs' knowledge and awareness of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 lineage that was recently reported as the UK variant of concern, and its associated travel worry and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) score. Results: A total of 1,058 HCWs completed the survey; 66.5% were female, 59.0% were nurses. 9.0% indicated they had been previously diagnosed with COVID-19. Regarding the B.1.1.7 lineage, almost all (97.3%) were aware of its emergence, 73.8% were aware that it is more infectious, 78.0% thought it causes more severe disease, and only 50.0% knew that current COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing it. Despite this, 66.7% of HCWs were not registered to receive the vaccine. HCWs' most common source of information about the new variant was social media platforms (67.0%), and this subgroup was significantly more worried about traveling. Nurses were more worried than physicians (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Most HCWs were aware of the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant and expressed substantial travel worries. Increased worry levels were found among HCWs who used social media as their main source of information, those with lower levels of COVID-19 vaccine uptake, and those with higher GAD-7 scores. The utilization of official social media platforms could improve accurate information dissemination among HCWs regarding the Pandemic's evolving mutations. Targeted vaccine campaigns are warranted to assure HCWs about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines toward SARS-CoV-2 variants

COVID-19 Delta Variant: Perceptions, Worries, and Vaccine-Booster Acceptability among Healthcare Workers

Background: As the COVID-19 Delta variant has spread across the globe, healthcare workers’ (HCWs) knowledge, worries, and vaccine booster acceptance should be assessed. Methods: Online questionnaires aimed at HCWs in Saudi Arabia were distributed between 9 and 12 August 2021, aiming to evaluate HCWs’ perceptions and worries about the Delta variant as well as their feelings about receiving a booster-vaccine. Results: A total of 1279 HCWs participated, with 51.1% being physicians and 41.7% nurses. 92.5% were aware of the emergence of the Delta variant. Still, only 28.7% were found to have sufficient knowledge of the variant, and their level of worry about it was higher than their level of worry about the Alpha variant (2.32/5 versus 1.79/5). The main information sources cited by the participants were social media (50.5%), while 30.5% used scientific journals. Overall, 55.3% were willing to receive a vaccine booster, while one third would have preferred to receive a new mRNA vaccine specifically developed for the Delta variant. Factors associated with vaccine booster acceptance were receiving both vaccination doses (p = 0.008), believing that the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine is effective against variants (p < 0.001), and agreement that mixing/matching vaccines is effective against variants (p < 0.001). Conclusions: A high percentage of HCWs were aware of the Delta variant, but only a small fraction had decent quality of knowledge about it. The participants exhibited high worry levels and showed a modest acceptance of receiving a vaccine booster dose. These results should encourage public health officials to scale up educational efforts to disseminate reliable information about the different variants and provide recommendations about receiving a vaccine booster. Further research on methods to alleviate HCWs’ worries about emerging variants is warranted

Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia

Psychotropic medication use is rising among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Saudi Arabia. Two hundred ninety-three parents of children diagnosed with ASD completed a parental concerns questionnaire (PCQ) online to examine children&rsquo;s family socio-demographics, health conditions and comorbidities, and past and current exposure to psychotropic medication as prescribed by their primary doctor. Findings revealed that more than one-third of the parents (39.08%) reported that their children were using medications at the time of the survey; risperidone (53%), methylphenidate (30%), and valproic acid (9%) were the most commonly used. A smaller number of parents stated that their children had previously used medications (16.09%). The most often prescribed drugs among this group were risperidone (45%), followed by methylphenidate (32%) and valproic acid (17%). The variables that showed a statistically significant association with the current use of psychotropic drugs were the child&rsquo;s age (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.40, p &lt; 0.001), presence of comorbidities (OR = 7.75, 95% CI: 3.48, 17.24, p &lt; 0.001), communication difficulties (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.95, p &lt; 0.021), and anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.00, 2.87, p &lt; 0.049). Similarly, the child&rsquo;s age (OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.40, p &lt; 0.002) and presence of comorbidities (OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.16, 6.29, p &lt; 0.022) showed statistically significant associations with previous use

Impact of external accreditation on students’ performance: Insights from a full accreditation cycle

Background: The process of external academic accreditation involves quality control and auditing measures that focus on the design, delivery, and outcomes of education. It is a demanding and disruptive process in terms of effort, time, money, and human resources. Nevertheless, the extent to which external quality assurance and accreditation procedures affect students’ performance at the end of the learning cycle has not been well studied thus far. Methods: A retrospective quantitative secondary data analysis was conducted in The King Saud University (KSU) undergraduate medical program, with a before–after comparison research design to assess the impact of external accreditation on students’ mean grade scores during an accreditation cycle. Results: Overall, the data pertaining to 1090 students who attended 32,677 examination encounters were included in the analysis. The pre- and post-accreditation analysis revealed a statistically significant improvement in the students' mean scores—80 ± 9 (pre) versus 87 ± 11 (post), with a p-value of (p = 0.003) and a Cohen's d value of 0.591. On the other hand, there was no statistically significant difference in the students' mean passing percentages—96 ± 5 (pre) versus 96 ± 9 (post), with a p-value of (p = 0.815) and a Cohen's d value of 0.043. Conclusion: The actions involved in the planning phase and the journey through the self-study evaluation not only verify the program's competencies but also functioned as critical boosters for quality improvement processes and, hence, students' learning experiences

The Association between Video Game Type and Aggressive Behaviors in Saudi Youth: A Pilot Study

Video gaming is a popular source of entertainment among children and adolescents. Although the Middle East is home to one of the fastest growing communities of video game users, most of the research established on this topic has been carried out through small scale studies. Our aim in this study is to assess the prevalence of video game use and its association with aggressive behaviors among adolescents in Saudi Arabia. This is a cross-sectional study involving boys and girls (aged 15&ndash;18 years) in both private and public secondary high schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Each participant completed a self-administered modified version of the aggression questionnaire, which consisted of 29 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale. This questionnaire assessed aggressive behaviors domains: physical aggression, anger, hostility, and verbal aggression and types of videogames and time of use. A total of 485 students were included in this study. The mean age of participants was 16.5 &plusmn; 0.9 years; 48% were boys. Adolescents who participated in action games had higher mean verbal (p &lt; 0.01) and physical aggression (p &lt; 0.01) scores. Adventure game players had significantly higher mean scores in all four types of aggressive behavior (p &lt; 0.01). Participants who played simulation games had higher mean verbal aggressiveness (p &lt; 0.01). Adolescents who participated in sports games had greater mean levels of anger (p = 0.01) and physical aggression (p = 0.01). Those who played strategy/puzzle games reported significantly higher mean scores of anger (p &lt; 0.01), hostility (p = 0.01), and verbal aggression (p = 0.01). Females were more likely to show higher mean anger (p &lt; 0.01) scores, whereas males were more likely to show higher mean physical aggression scores (p &lt; 0.01). Conclusions: Our results do suggest that playing video games increases adolescent aggressive behaviors, which has been supported by other studies. We recommend educating parents on the pros and cons of playing video games and that parents schedule and limit the time their children spend playing video games

Burnout, Depression, and Anxiety Levels among Healthcare Workers Serving Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Burnout in healthcare workers (HCWs) is defined as a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion that results from unmanaged, excessive, and long-term workplace stressors. This study aims to assess the prevalence of burnout and the levels of anxiety and depression among HCWs who primarily work with children who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted utilizing the Arabic version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS), Patient Health Questionnaire for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire for Depression (PHQ-9). Among the 381 participants working in autism centers, the majority were young Saudi females (326) working full-time as specialists in the private sector with less than five years of experience. The HCWs&rsquo; overall mean scores on the three Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) subscales: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA) were 62%, 23.7%, and 76.5%, respectively. A total of 51.4% of HCWs reported moderate to high anxiety levels on GAD-7, and 47.8% showed moderate to very high levels of depression on PHQ-9. The mean perceived EE converged significantly but negatively on their overall mean perceived satisfaction with AWS (p-value &lt; 0.001), demonstrating that greater emotional fatigue predicts less satisfaction with their work. The PA scores correlated significantly and positively with their overall mean satisfaction with their AWS score (p-value &lt; 0.001). Considering sociodemographic variables, HCWs aged between 20&ndash;29 years have significantly lower mean PA scores than HCWs aged thirty and older (p = 0.007). Also, male HCWs perceived significantly higher work-related DP than females. More research is required to determine the nature of variables that contribute to burnout, depression, and anxiety in HCWs helping children with ASD

Findings of a Multidisciplinary Assessment of Children Referred for Possible Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Insights from a Retrospective Chart Review Study

Children with ASD have a wide spectrum of functional deficits in multiple neurodevelopmental domains. A multidisciplinary team assessment (MDT) is required to assess those deficits to help construct a multimodal intervention plan. This is a retrospective chart review of the assessment for children who were referred for an assessment of potential neurodevelopmental disorders. We reviewed 221 participants&rsquo; charts from January 2019 to January 2020. The mean age of the children was 7.95 &plusmn; 3.69, while the mean age of the fathers and mothers was 37.31 &plusmn; 8.57 and 31.95 &plusmn; 6.93, respectively. Consanguinity was as high as 37.9% for the referred children with developmental delay who were first-degree related, and 13.2% of the parents were second-degree relatives. Approximately 26.6% of children had a family history of mental illness in first-degree relatives. ASD was the most commonly reported diagnosis post-assessment, and ADHD was the most common reported comorbidity at 64.3% and 88.5%, respectively. The MDT findings showed that 58% of children required moderate or higher assistance with toileting, 79.2% were unable to answer yes/no questions, and 86.8% were unable to understand &ldquo;wh&rdquo; questions. Only 26% of the nonverbal children had average IQ testing results, and 31% of verbal children did. In conclusion, the mean age of the children when assessed was above that recommended for early screening and intervention. An increased paternal and maternal age was noticeable. Consanguinity and a family history of mental disorders in first-degree relatives were high, attesting to a possible genetic risk