Mental Health and Coping Contingencies among Adults Residing In the United Kingdom during the Covid-19 Lockdowns (Published)
Restrictions on movement and basic human rights inevitably causes a negative impact on the mental health of individuals worldwide. This could become particularly apparent in the UK where the government placed firm restrictions on the movement and freedom of the public in response to COVID-19. This study aimed to determine associations between mental health and strategies adopted by residents to cope with lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-reported data were collected from 647 adults through an online survey. Results revealed that over 20% of participants reported symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Multivariable logistic regression analysis confirmed that participants reporting use of positive coping strategies (spending time meditating and with pet companions) had significantly lower odds of experiencing symptoms of PTSD; whereas those who spent time social distancing by communicating with others online and exercising at home showed increased odds of experiencing PTSD symptoms. This study signifies COVID-19 as a major source of mental distress for adults residing in the UK and advocates various methods of coping during such stress-inducing times.
Citation: Joanne Lusher, Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan, Maher Rashwan Attaallah Mohamed, Roberta Ariel Abeldaro Zuñiga, Maha El Tantawi, Ntombifuthi P Nzimande, Passent Ellakany, Anthonia Omotola Ishabiyi, Giuliana Florenica Abeldaño, Ala’a B Al-Tammemi, Olubukola Popoola, Muhammad Abrar Yousaf (2021) Mental Health and Coping Contingencies among Adults Residing In the United Kingdom during the Covid-19 Lockdowns, International Journal of Health and Psychology Research, Vol.9, No.3, pp.16-26
Keywords: Adults, COVID-19, Coping, Mental Health, UK, lockdowns
Qualitative analysis of mental health issues among at-home workers in the COVID-19 era: implications for clinical intervention (Published)
Little research attention has been given to mental health issues arising from the lifestyle change of working from home in the Nigerian context. Likewise, research findings in the extant literature on mental wellbeing of employees working from home are mixed. Therefore, the qualitative study examines mental health issues among at-home workers in the Covid-19 era to serve clinical practice and intervention. Data were obtained from 106 employees in service organisations in South-western, Nigeria, using a questionnaire with closed-ended questions. Results showed that employees’ experiences reflected a range of relatively mild mental health issues such as fears, anxiety and some elements of depressive disturbances/symptoms with sex differences on some of their concerns. Findings revealed that employees are delighted about working from home because they feel protected from contracting corona virus and are able to stretch their work routine far into the day with frequent breaks. Respondents commonly reported that working from home was stressful/less productive and generated work-family conflict issues. They reported difficulties arising from inadequate equipment and challenges associated with communicating with co-workers and supervisors. The practical implications of findings for mental health, clinical practice and intervention are discussed.
Citation: Mojisola S. Ajayi & David. E. Okurame (2021) Qualitative analysis of mental health issues among at-home workers in the COVID-19 era: implications for clinical intervention, International Journal of Health and Psychology Research, Vol.9, No.3, pp.1-15
Keywords: COVID-19, Clinical intervention, Mental Health, Nigerian employees, at-home workers
Emotional Dissonance and Psychological Burnout on Role Performance among COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Workers (Published)
A sporadic novel corona virus disease, COVID-19 was first diagnosed in humans in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Since this unprecedented occurrence, COVID-19 has become a global pandemic leading to short- and long-term psychological ill-health to people from all walks of life. In this situational framework, patients and front-line healthcare workers have become the most vulnerable. The main aim of the study was to explore emotional dissonance and psychological burnout on role performance of COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers in Busia County, Kenya. Cross-sectional research design was employed. A standardized set of questionnaire was used to quantify the data. For this study, the researchers adopted multi-stage sampling technique to collect the data from the frontline healthcare workers in selected public hospitals in Busia County. The collected data were analyzed with multivariate regression analysis while qualitative findings were transcribed under themes.The findings show that emotional dissonance had an influence on role performance of frontline HCWs since the results are statistically significant. Males were more likely to experience emotional dissonance as opposed to females. Conversely, the findings revealed that psychological burnout had an insignificant relationship with role performance. Probably the sample size was small or the test items failed to meet the assumptions of the cultural orientation of the majority of the participants in the study. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic might have conflicted with the Healthcare Workers calling and professional orientation. Most frontline healthcare workers in hospitals had not received adequate psychotherapy in preparation for COVID-19. Emotional dissonance seems more (certainly-delete) a consequence of unprecedented infection. Certainly Healthcare Workers obligation to save life might have been frustrated leading to exaggerated emotional dissonance and decline in performance output. Knowledge levels about COVID (have-delete) proved to have massive impact on severity and susceptibility of Healthcare Workers.There is need to bridge the gap in the knowledge levels, help improve on the understanding on how to freely handle the pandemic. Call for bridging the gaps in training of healthcare workers to overcome the fear that comes with knowledge of COVID-19 adversities. Intensified counselling and psychosocial support to HealthCare Workers and community sensitisation. Further research on home-based care since it has proven to be affordable alternative to hospital care or isolation.
Keywords: COVID-19, Role Performance, emotional dissonance, frontline healthcare workers, psychological burnout