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This study assessed the effect of virtual reality therapy on the stress and anxiety symptoms, in addition to physiological measures, including mean arterial pressure (MAP) and pulse rate among university students. A one group pretest-posttest design was used. The participants were baccalaureate students who enrolled in all faculties at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman Governorate. This study was conducted between December and January, 2019. The intervention involved an experience as a therapy called River Relaxation virtual reality (VR), which downloaded through Stream VR. The participants attended eight sessions for 15 min two sessions weekly over one month in the VR laboratory. There was a significant difference between the pre-post virtual reality therapy intervention for perceived stress (t = 8.411, p < 0.001), anxiety (t = 10.145, p < 0.001), MAP (t = 6.393, p < 0.001), and pulse (t = 2.571, p < 0.05). There was a statistically significant lowering in perceived stress, anxiety, and physiological measures including, MAP and pulse as a result of the Virtual Reality Therapy. The findings suggest the importance of integrating virtual reality therapy as an effective intervention to minimize stress and anxiety, and enhance physiological measures among university students., Author(s): Fuad A. El-Qirem [sup.1] , Malakeh. Z. Malak [sup.2] , Ayman. K. Bani Salameh [sup.3] , Raed Ali [sup.4] , Ahmed Alsswey [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.443348.c, 0000 0001 [...]

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is recommended as the frontline treatment for depression and anxiety disorders and has been implemented in a wide range of mental health care contexts. In Danish mental health services, group CBT is the most common psychotherapeutic treatment format. Recently, a standardized, time-restricted treatment format has been implemented. No studies have investigated the patients' experiences of group CBT in such a format. Furthermore, few studies have investigated patients' experiences of group CBT for anxiety and depression. The current study set out to explore patients' experiences of group CBT for anxiety and depression and the role of a standardized, time-restricted treatment format, using a qualitative framework.We explored the experiences of 23 patients with a primary diagnosis of social anxiety, panic disorder/agoraphobia, or depression. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using phenomenological narrative analysis. The results revealed a common narrative across the 23 interviews. The narrative was made up of six distinct themes, namely: How did I get here?; Being seen, heard and recognized; Shared responsibility of problems and solutions; Education and tools; Limitations of this group format; and Launchpad. The results indicated that the patients found group CBT helpful due to a range of factors, both common factors and treatment-specific factors. Patients expressed skepticism towards group CBT prior to beginning, because of a lack of information and previous failed treatment attempts. The patients highlighted the importance of the context of the mental health system by explaining how systemic factors impacted negatively on their psychotherapy experience. Many described feeling abandoned due to the sudden ending of a treatment course that was generally considered insufficient., Author(s): Anne Bryde Christensen [sup.1] [sup.2] , A. J. Pavlo [sup.3] , L. Davidson [sup.3] , S. Poulsen [sup.4] , N. Reinholt [sup.2] [sup.5] , M. Hvenegaard [sup.5] , E. [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented levels of stress to individuals in the U.S. and throughout the world. These high stress levels place individuals at risk for symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric disorders. The current study applies a control-based model of coping to contribute to the development of evidence-based interventions to promote resilience. Data were collected online from April 22 through July 12, 2020. Data from two samples of U. S. community adults who completed an online battery of standardized questionnaires were combined (N = 709). More than a quarter reported moderate to severe levels of depression symptoms, and more than one-fifth reported moderate to severe levels of anxiety symptoms; symptom levels were higher among adults who reported more COVID-19-related stress. As hypothesized, multiple regression analyses indicated that greater use of primary and secondary control coping was associated with lower symptom levels, whereas greater use of disengagement coping was associated with higher symptom levels, above and beyond the association of stress with symptoms. Race and ethnicity emerged as important moderators of these associations, indicating that what constitutes adaptive coping varies according to characteristics of the individual. Implications for public health policy and clinical practice are discussed., Author(s): Mary Jo Coiro [sup.1] , Kelly H. Watson [sup.2] , Abby Ciriegio [sup.2] , Maile Jones [sup.2] , Amy R. Wolfson [sup.1] , Jennie Reisman [sup.2] , Bruce E. [...]

This study aimed to systematically review studies which conducted a controlled mediation analysis in order to examine the potential mechanisms which underlie mindfulness-based programme's (MBPs) effects on anxiety, depression and psychological distress in any health or mental health population. Searches of six databases (Medline (Ovid), PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, Cinahal Plus and Cochrane Reviews) were undertaken in September 2020. After removing duplicates, 2052 records were screened, of these 1822 were excluded based on the abstract and 230 were further assessed for eligibility against the full study inclusion criteria. Full texts were acquired for the 11 studies which met the inclusion criteria. The quality of the methodologies of each of these 11 studies were assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool (Higgins et al., 2011 (See CR30)). The quality of the findings from each study relating to the hypothesised mechanisms of action of the MBP reviewed were evaluated using Alsubaie et al. (2017 (See CR1))'s framework for abstracting and interpreting mechanistic study quality, derived from recommendations made by Kazdin (2007 (See CR34), 2009 (See CR35)). We found preliminary evidence that MBCT/MBSR treatment effects on anxiety and depression may be mediated by hypothesised mechanisms, such as mindfulness, rumination, worry, self-compassion, cognitive reactivity, aversion, attention regulation skills and positive affect. An overall lack of methodological rigour does preclude us from making any definitive conclusions on causality. The results from this study do however provide some insights into what the potential causal pathways connecting MBPs with improved anxiety and depression might be., Author(s): Alan Maddock [sup.1] , Carolyn Blair [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4777.3, 0000 0004 0374 7521, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen's University, , 6 College Park [...]

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of team sports and strength and conditioning programs in improving perceived stress and anxiety among college students. During fall semester of 2018, 140 students (71 male, 69 female) in the team sports group and 215 students (127 male, 88 female) in the strength and condition group participated in one 90-min team sport or strength and conditioning class per week for 12 weeks. The students completed Perceived Stress Scale and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale before and after the intervention. While controlling for ages and grades, the ANOVA repeated measures indicated that the two groups did not significantly increase perceived stress over time (F = .041, p = .840) and there was no group difference in the perceived stress scores over time (F = 2.848, p = .092). However, the two groups showed significant increased mean scores of anxiety over time (F = 10.207, p = .002, Å.sup.2 = .029), though no significant main effect of group (F = .051, p = .821) and interaction effect (F = .875, p = .350). There is no difference in reducing perceived stress and anxiety between the team sports and strength and conditioning groups over the course of the semester. This study shows that participation in team sports and strength and conditioning class once per week for 90 min is insufficient in decreasing stress and anxiety among college students. This study suggests that future studies need to increase frequency and amounts to see desired psychological well-being outcomes., Author(s): Alayna Margulis [sup.1] , Katherine Andrews [sup.1] , Zhonghui He [sup.2] , Weiyun Chen [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.214458.e, 0000000086837370, School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, [...]

Byline: Jayita. Deodhar, Savita. Goswami, Lekhika. Sonkusare Background: The Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) is useful for screening depression and anxiety in cancer. It has not been validated in [...]