Compounding stress: A mixed-methods study on the psychological experience of miscarriage amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Experiencing a miscarriage can have profound psychological implications, and the added strain of the COVID-19 pandemic may have compounded these effects. This study aimed to explore the psychological experiences, assess the levels of psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder), and examine the relationships of personal significance of miscarriage and perceived stress with psychological distress of women in North Carolina who suffered a miscarriage of a desired pregnancy between March 30, 2020, and February 24, 2021, of the COVID-19 pandemic, at 14 to 31 months after the loss.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional mixed-methods study using a convergent parallel design.

Brief Self-Compassion Intervention for Women of Higher Weight and Internalized Weight Bias: A Randomized Pilot Study.

Background: Internalized weight bias (IWB) negatively impacts mental and physical health, and disproportionately affects women of higher weight. Although self-compassion training may be advantageous for reducing IWB and associated sequalae, further examination of its clinical significance and cultural acceptability is warranted.

Method: A randomized pilot study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility, including cultural acceptability, and clinical significance of a 3-session self-compassion intervention (SCI) for women with IWB.

Take a break! Leisure participation moderates the workaholism-work stress relationship.

Our primary aim was to gain a better understanding of how leisure activities (i.e., physical activity, mindfulness, and vacation) may beneficially relate to workaholism and work stress.

A mixed-methods investigation of COVID-19 pandemic-specific stress in college students.

Objective: To identify pandemic-specific stressors among college students and compare patterns of stressors in samples obtained during early and chronic phases of the pandemic.

Method: Different undergraduate student samples from a Southeastern university completed an online survey in Spring 2020 (early pandemic;  = 673) and Fall 2020 (chronic pandemic;  439). This repeated cross-sectional survey study used a mixed methods triangulation design to validate and expand on quantitative findings using qualitative data.

Relationships Among Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences, Emotion Dysregulation, and Psychopathology Symptoms.

This cross-sectional study sought to examine adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs), and emotion dysregulation as they relate to psychopathology symptoms (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], anxiety, depression) in university students in emerging adulthood. Students at a United States university ( = 1,498) completed an online survey during the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semesters. Measures include the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire, Benevolent Childhood Experiences Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form, PTSD Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 edition, Patient Health Questionnaire 8, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 Scale.

Labor of love, or love of labor? Psychological capital's mitigating role in the relationship between workaholism and work stress.

Background: Workaholism is conceptualized as a compulsive need to work incessantly, and it is related to numerous detrimental organizational and individual consequences. For that reason, it is imperative that researchers uncover possible variables that can alleviate its potentially harmful effects.

Objective: This study aims to examine the relationship between workaholism, psychological capital (PsyCap), physical health, and work stress.

NICU-Specific Stress Following Traumatic Childbirth and Its Relationship With Posttraumatic Stress.

This mixed-methods pilot study investigated maternal perceived stress specific to infant neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization as a moderator of the relationship between traumatic childbirth appraisal and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). NICU mothers (N = 77) were recruited via social media 1 to 4 months postpartum for a cross-sectional survey about perinatal experiences. Measures included traumatic childbirth, PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, and Parental Stressor Scale (PSS): NICU.

Relationships of race and socioeconomic status to postpartum depressive symptoms in rural African American and non-Hispanic white women.

This study examines the potential racial disparity in postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms among a cohort of non-Hispanic white and African American women after taking into consideration the influence of socioeconomic status (SES). Participants (N = 299) were recruited from maternity clinics serving rural counties, with oversampling of low SES and African Americans. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was administered 1 and 6 months postpartum, and subjective SES scale at 6 months postpartum.

Resilience in the Context of Chronic Stress and Health in Adults.

Over the past several decades, stress research has experienced a broadening of its pathologic focus to encompass the concept of resilience. There is a wealth of research on resilience but no general consensus regarding its conceptualization. Some define resilience as attaining eventual favorable outcomes following exposure to adversity.

A pilot study to reduce risk for antepartum depression among women in a public health prenatal clinic.

This pilot study evaluated the feasibility, effectiveness, and helpfulness of Insight-Plus, a brief culturally-tailored cognitive behavioral intervention for African-American and Caucasian rural low-income women at risk for APD [Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) > or = 10]. Forty two percent (63/149) of women in this non-randomized study were at risk for APD and 41% (26/63) of women, who met all eligibility criteria, initially agreed to participate. Seventeen participants completed all six intervention sessions.

Evaluation of a resilience intervention to enhance coping strategies and protective factors and decrease symptomatology.

Objective: In this pilot study, the authors examined the effectiveness of a 4-week resilience intervention to enhance resilience, coping strategies, and protective factors, as well as decrease symptomatology during a period of increased academic stress.

Participants And Methods: College students were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 30) and wait-list control (n = 27) groups. The experimental group received a psychoeducational intervention in 4 two-hour weekly sessions.

Barriers to seeking help and treatment suggestions for prenatal depressive symptoms: focus groups with rural low-income women.

Interviews were conducted with 21 pregnant or recently pregnant African American and Caucasian low-income women living in a rural southeastern community to elicit perceived barriers to seeking help for depressive symptoms in pregnancy and ways to overcome these barriers, as well as intervention suggestions. Participants identified themes regarding barriers to seeking help. These were: (1) lack of trust, (2) judgment/stigma, (3) dissatisfaction with the health care system, and (4) not wanting help.

Relationships of protective factors to stress and symptoms of illness.

Objective: To examine relationships of work and individual protective factors to health outcomes.

Methods: Participants from 2 corporate samples completed measures of supervisor support, hardiness, coping, global stress, and symptoms of illness.

Results: Regression analyses indicated that higher scores on hardiness and approach coping and being male predicted lower scores on stress and symptoms of illness.

The relationships among acculturation, biobehavioral risk, stress, corticotropin-releasing hormone, and poor birth outcomes in Hispanic women.

Objective: To determine the predictive ability of acculturation as an antecedent of stress, biobehavioral risk, corticotropin-releasing hormone levels, and poor birth outcomes in pregnant Hispanic women.

Design: A prospective, observational design with data collected at 22-25 weeks of gestation and at birth through medical record review.

Setting: Public prenatal health clinics in south Texas serving low-income women.

Hardiness and support at work as predictors of work stress and job satisfaction.

Purpose: To test a theoretically and empirically based model linking potential protective resources (hardiness, coworker and supervisor support) to the outcomes of work stress and job satisfaction and replicating the relationship of work stress to job satisfaction while accounting for the potential influence of negative affectivity.

Design: A cross-sectional research design using survey data collected from two convenience samples.

Setting: Two worksites: (1) a high-tech company and (2) a government agency.

Cell aging in relation to stress arousal and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

We previously reported that psychological stress is linked to and possibly accelerates cellular aging, as reflected by lower PBMC telomerase and shortened telomeres. Psychological stress is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), with multiple behavioral and physiological mediators. Telomere shortness has been associated with CVD, but the relationship between low telomerase activity, a potential precursor to telomere shortening, and CVD risk factors has not been examined in humans.

Reliability and validity of a single-item measure of job satisfaction.

Purpose: To investigate the reliability and validity of a single-item overall job satisfaction measure.

Methods: Public agency employees (n = 745) were surveyed regarding job satisfaction, work, personality, and health variables. The single-item measure underwent the following analyses: correction for attenuation formula to estimate minimum reliability; correlations with multiple-item job satisfaction, work, personality, and health measures to determine concurrent validity, construct validity, and specific relevance to health promotion; and logistic regression to determine the predictability of turnover intention.

The relationship between hardiness, supervisor support, group cohesion, and job stress as predictors of job satisfaction.

Purpose: This study tested a conceptual model based on research supporting the relationship between the predictors of hardiness, supervisor support, and group cohesion and the criterions of job stress and job satisfaction and between the predictor of job stress and the criterion of job satisfaction.

Design: The study employed a cross-sectional research design. Survey data were collected as part of the baseline measures assessed prior to an organizational hardiness intervention.