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      #Everything Will Be Fine. Duration of Home Confinement and “All-or-Nothing” Cognitive Thinking Style as Predictors of Traumatic Distress in Young University Students on a Digital Platform During the COVID-19 Italian Lockdown

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          Abstract

          On March 10, 2020, Italy announced its lockdown caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and home confinement exposed individuals to a stressful situation of unknown duration. Our study aimed to analyze the emotional and cognitive experiences and the psychopathological symptoms of young Italian University students seeking help from our University student Counseling and Consultation Service during the COVID-19 lockdown. Also, our study aimed to identify the predictors of traumatic psychological distress, investigating variables that could influence the students' well-being, related to their socio-demographic and clinical condition, to the “exposition” to the social distancing, and related to their cognitive thinking style. One-hundred and three University students were included in our study. The traumatic impact was assessed by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). A digital platform was used in our study, focused on narrative dimensions analyses. Our results showed that 21.4% of our help-seeking students experienced lockdown as a traumatic experience. The main stressful factors reported by students were: adjustment to the new academic activities (23.3 %), lack of autonomy (19.4%), and conflicts with family members (6.8%). The three main areas impaired were: changes in the sleeping pattern (68%), difficulty in concentration (67%), and loss of energy (58.6%). Furthermore, 36% of our student sample reported being suffering from anxiety symptoms, whereas 26% showed depressive symptomatology. Students having previous psychological and psychiatric contacts with mental health services (23%) showed a more severe traumatic and depressive symptomatology. The problematic thinking style “all or nothing” was predominantly associated with psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic symptoms. “Everything Will Be Fine” could be identified by the “optimistic style” (27.2%), inversely correlated with the psychopathological measures and concentration problems. The results of the logistic regression analysis indicated that the length of home confinement (second month) seemed to increase by over 3 times the likelihood of experience posttraumatic symptomatology, and a thinking style “all or nothing” was the final strongest predictor increasing the risk by over 5 times. The implementation of psychological interventions to improve the mental health of vulnerable young subgroups to contain the structuring of psychopathological profiles represent a fundamental challenge.

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          The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence

          Summary The December, 2019 coronavirus disease outbreak has seen many countries ask people who have potentially come into contact with the infection to isolate themselves at home or in a dedicated quarantine facility. Decisions on how to apply quarantine should be based on the best available evidence. We did a Review of the psychological impact of quarantine using three electronic databases. Of 3166 papers found, 24 are included in this Review. Most reviewed studies reported negative psychological effects including post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion, and anger. Stressors included longer quarantine duration, infection fears, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, inadequate information, financial loss, and stigma. Some researchers have suggested long-lasting effects. In situations where quarantine is deemed necessary, officials should quarantine individuals for no longer than required, provide clear rationale for quarantine and information about protocols, and ensure sufficient supplies are provided. Appeals to altruism by reminding the public about the benefits of quarantine to wider society can be favourable.
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            Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China

            Background: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic is a public health emergency of international concern and poses a challenge to psychological resilience. Research data are needed to develop evidence-driven strategies to reduce adverse psychological impacts and psychiatric symptoms during the epidemic. The aim of this study was to survey the general public in China to better understand their levels of psychological impact, anxiety, depression, and stress during the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. The data will be used for future reference. Methods: From 31 January to 2 February 2020, we conducted an online survey using snowball sampling techniques. The online survey collected information on demographic data, physical symptoms in the past 14 days, contact history with COVID-19, knowledge and concerns about COVID-19, precautionary measures against COVID-19, and additional information required with respect to COVID-19. Psychological impact was assessed by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and mental health status was assessed by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Results: This study included 1210 respondents from 194 cities in China. In total, 53.8% of respondents rated the psychological impact of the outbreak as moderate or severe; 16.5% reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms; 28.8% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms; and 8.1% reported moderate to severe stress levels. Most respondents spent 20–24 h per day at home (84.7%); were worried about their family members contracting COVID-19 (75.2%); and were satisfied with the amount of health information available (75.1%). Female gender, student status, specific physical symptoms (e.g., myalgia, dizziness, coryza), and poor self-rated health status were significantly associated with a greater psychological impact of the outbreak and higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (p < 0.05). Specific up-to-date and accurate health information (e.g., treatment, local outbreak situation) and particular precautionary measures (e.g., hand hygiene, wearing a mask) were associated with a lower psychological impact of the outbreak and lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (p < 0.05). Conclusions: During the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, more than half of the respondents rated the psychological impact as moderate-to-severe, and about one-third reported moderate-to-severe anxiety. Our findings identify factors associated with a lower level of psychological impact and better mental health status that can be used to formulate psychological interventions to improve the mental health of vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 epidemic.
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              Standards for reporting qualitative research: a synthesis of recommendations.

              Standards for reporting exist for many types of quantitative research, but currently none exist for the broad spectrum of qualitative research. The purpose of the present study was to formulate and define standards for reporting qualitative research while preserving the requisite flexibility to accommodate various paradigms, approaches, and methods.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Psychiatry
                Front Psychiatry
                Front. Psychiatry
                Frontiers in Psychiatry
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1664-0640
                15 December 2020
                2020
                15 December 2020
                : 11
                : 574812
                Affiliations
                [1] 1Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila , L'Aquila, Italy
                [2] 2Hospital S. Salvatore, University Unit Rehabilitation Treatment, Early Interventions in Mental Health , Abruzzo, Italy
                Author notes

                Edited by: Antonio Ventriglio, University of Foggia, Italy

                Reviewed by: Siddharth Sarkar, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India; Franco Veltro, Asrem, Italy

                *Correspondence: Rita Roncone rita.roncone@ 123456univaq.it

                This article was submitted to Public Mental Health, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry

                Article
                10.3389/fpsyt.2020.574812
                7770221
                33384623
                ab2f59f0-714b-4b14-879f-2b82afffe741
                Copyright © 2020 Giusti, Salza, Mammarella, Bianco, Ussorio, Casacchia and Roncone.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 21 June 2020
                : 12 November 2020
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 6, Equations: 0, References: 38, Pages: 14, Words: 10509
                Categories
                Psychiatry
                Original Research

                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                covid-19 outbreak,narrative psychiatry,online psychological intervention,digital platform,traumatic impact,thinking styles,university students,predictors

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