Objective To investigate the mental health status, perceived social support, as well as the relationship between them among middle school students in Wenchuan Earthquake region, so as to provide references for the relevant department to formulate appropriate strategies and intervention measures. Methods A cluster sampling method was adopted to select all 1698 students (excluded the students in Grade 3) as the research subjects from three middle schools in the disaster regions. All students were investigated with self-designed basic information questionnaire, Symptom CheckList 90 (SCL-90) and Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) through self-administered questionnaire. Results The overall positive rate on the SCL-90 was 46.3% among 1690 students, of whom 66.6% had mild psychological problems and 26.5% had moderate to severe psychological problems. The positive rate on the SCL-90 and the score for each factor of SCL-90 were statistically higher in the female students than male students (Plt;0.05). Compared with the senior middle school students, the score on the phobic anxiety subscale of the SCL-90 was statistically higher in the junior middle school students (Plt;0.05), while the score on the obsessive-compulsive subscale was otherwise statistically lower (Plt;0.05). With the exception of the hostility subscale, the score on each subscale of the SCL-90 in the urban students was statistically lower than the rural students (Plt;0.05). The median score on the perceived social support subscale was 60.00, with significant differences between the students of different sexes and grades (Plt;0.05). The overall score on the perceived social support subscale was negatively correlated with the SCL-90 score (r= –0.261, Plt;0.05). The score was negatively correlated with the SCL-90 score in the students regarding different sexes, grades and living areas prior to the earthquake (Plt;0.05). Conclusion The middle school students in the disaster regions have prominent psychological problems; perceived social support is helpful to promote the development of their mental health. In conducting psychological intervention, the difference of individuals’ mental health among different student groups should be concerned, so as to carry out targeted counseling and education.
Objective To systematically analyze the factors influencing the left-behind children’s mental health. Methods After the search term and strategy were confirmed by researchers, four Chinese databases including Chinese Biological Medical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and WanFang Database (WF) were searched to collect papers, published before March 2011, on relevant factors influencing mental health of left-behind children in China. Then two reviewers independently screened, extracted and cross-checked the data, and the disagreements were resolved by discussion or by consulting a third reviewer. Qualitative synthesis method was used to analyze the study results. Results Of the total 3 252 records, 49 studies were included. The results of qualitative analysis showed that factors influencing left-behind children’s mental health could be classified into four categories including social factors, family factors, school factors and personal factors. Of the nearly 30 kinds of specific factors, the main ones were gender, age, parent-child relationship, social support, personality and characteristics, and outgoing condition of parents, etc. Conclusion Current research results indicate that many factors have influences on mental health of left-behind children, but the research quality is not high with low argument efficiency. There are still controversies on several factors’ impact. Longitudinal studies with rigorous design are needed to analyze the impact of different factors on the left-behind children’s mental health and to summarize the interaction between various factors, so as to provide scientific evidence for developing practical and effective intervention measures.
Objective To reflect the correlation between social support and mental health of the aged through the Pearson correlation coefficient. Methods Databases including PubMed, SpringerLink, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, VIP, WanFang Data and CNKI were searched from inception to October, 2011 to collect literature on the correlation between social support and mental health of the aged. The studies were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. After extracting data and assessing the quality of the included studies, meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.0 software. Results Of the 2 396 identified studies, 4 studies were included. The results showed that 4 studies were not high in the overall quality. The total score of social support of the elderly and its three dimensions were related to mental health. Among 9 factors associated with mental health, somatization, depression and anxiety were weakly correlated to the objective support while the others were extremely weakly correlated. Anxiety and phobic anxiety were weakly correlated to the subjective support while the others were extremely weakly correlated. Phobic anxiety was weakly correlated to the utilizing degree while the others were extremely weakly correlated. Somatization, anxiety and phobic anxiety were weakly correlated to the total score of social support while the others were extremely weakly correlated. Conclusion Social support probably improves mental health of the aged to some extent.
Objective To systematically review the literatures on left-behind children’s mental health status, and to describe and analyze the current domestic left-behind children’s main psychological health problems. Methods With the search terms and strategies predefined by repeated discuss and pre-retrieval, the literatures in Chinese published before March 2011 were searched in following four Chinese databases including Chinese Biological Medical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and WanFang Dissertation Database (WF). All research papers that reported the left-behind children’s mental health status and problems within China were included. Two reviewers independently screened the literatures and extracted the data. Disagreements were resolved by discussion or by involving a third researcher. The qualitative synthesis method was used to analyze the studies, while the meta-analysis was not adopted because of the tremendous heterogeneity of each study on the definition of left-behind children, study design and outcomes. Results A total of 155 studies were included for the final analysis and all of them were the cross-sectional study including 63 uncontrolled cross-sectional studies and 92 controlled cross-sectional studies. Most of the results showed that compared with the non-left-behind children, the left-behind children’s mental health level was lower and there were many psychological problems. While several studies suggested that there was no significant difference between the two groups. The left-behind children in different types (such as different gender, age, guardianship types, the migrant condition of parents, etc.) had different mental health problems. Conclusion The results of the current research indicate that the left-behind children have many mental health problems. However, the results are still controversial. The definitions of left-behind children have not been unified and the quality of current studies is generally low, which might influence the synthesis of results. High quality of controlled studies and long-term prospective cohort studies need to be conducted to study more accurately and deeply on the left-behind children’s mental health and on the differences between the left-behind children and non-left-behind children.
Objective To investigate the impact of genetic factors on mental health status in child and adolescent twins. Methods A total of 102 pairs of twins aged 6 to 16 years were recruited with the support from educational committees and schools. After the guardians of these twins had signed an informed consent form, the Chinese version growth and the state of health evaluation (Development and Well-Bing Assessment, DAWBA) were completed by the parents of these twins to investigate their mental health status. Buccal mucosa samples were collected from all twins for DNA extraction and zygosity identification test. Result A total of 102 pairs of twins were recruited, among whom 93 pairs finished the investigation, including 50 monozygotic pairs and 43 dizygotic pairs. The results of emotional symptoms and behavior symptoms and the impact of symptoms from the DAWBA screening questionnaire showed that the intrapair correlation coeficien of the emotional disorder and the oppositional/conduct disorder and the impact in monozygotic twins were more remarkable than those in dizygotie twins, including separation anxiety (MZ group correlation coefficient (r) = 0.821, Plt;0.01; DZ group r=0.348, Plt;0.01), generalized anxiety (MZ group r=0.546, Plt;0.01; DZ group r=0.309, Plt;0.01), a special terror symptoms (MZ group r=0.849, Plt;0.01; DZ group r=0.726, Plt;0.01 ), and oppositional defiant / conduct disorder (MZ group r=0.237, Plt;0.01; DZ group r=0.163, Plt;0.01), attention deficit - hyperactivity disorder (MZ group r=0.640, Plt;0.01; DZ group r=0.198, Plt;0.01), autistic symptoms (MZ group r=0.680, Plt;0.01; DZ group r=0.372, Plt;0.01). Conclusion Genetic factors play an important role in mental health status of child twins.
Objective To examine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression for medical staffs who took part in rescue in the disaster area after Wenchuan Earthquake. Methods According to purpose sampling method, from June 12th to June 18th, we investigated the medical staffs in eight areas, and the total number was 500. The eight areas included Mianzhu, Deyang, Shifang, Chengdu, Mianyang, Pengzhou, Zitong, and Anxian. The survey tools were PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). After collecting all questionnaires, we divided 500 medical staffs into 2 groups, according to the fact whether the rescue was carried out in the disaster area or not. Results A total of 500 questionnaires were given to the subjects, of which 481 effective ones were collected, and the effective rate was about 96.2%. In addition, the prevalence of PTSD for overall was 23.3%, anxiety was 21.6%, depression was 49.9%, and the anxiety plus depression was 19.54%. At the same time, we found out the averages of PCL-C (48.29±29.90 vs. 34.76±18.03), PCL-C frequency (16.27±15.14 vs. 9.99±10.25), PCL-C severity (32.03±15.26 vs. 24.85±8.60), SAS primitive (37.39±10.35 vs. 32.22±7.61), SAS standard (46.73±12.94 vs. 40.27±9.51), SDS primitive (42.00±8.32 vs. 37.99±9.63), and SDS standard (52.50±10.39 vs. 47.48±11.92) were different. The medical staffs in the disaster area were under more severe conditions, and there were significant differences between the 2 groups. The prevalence of PTSD (28.52% vs. 16.59), anxiety (28.89% vs. 12.32%), depression (58.15% vs. 39.34%), and anxiety plus depression (26.67% vs. 10.43%) between the 2 groups was significantly different, and the disaster area was under severe conditions. Additionally, the prevalences at three levels within SAS and SDS were much higher in the disaster area. There were also significant differences. Conclusion The prevalences of PTSD, SAS, and SDS within medical staffs who took part in rescue in the disaster area after Wenchuan Earthquake are higher than in the non-disaster area. Therefore, we should work out mental intervention and rehabilitation project for medical staffs, especially those who took part in rescue in the disaster area. Finally, the medical staffs’ ability to copy with stress can be improved.
Objective To systematic review the international interventions on mental health of involuntary migrants, and evaluate the effects of different interventions. Methods We searched 10 international electronic databases and 3 grey literature databases to November 2008. Websites of relevant organizations and Google were searched for any missing information. Research papers that reported describing or evaluating any interventions on preventing and treating mental health problems of involuntary migrants were included. Two reviewers independently screened, appraised and extracted the data, disagreements were resolved by discussion. Implemented interventions were summarized and analyzed by qualitative synthesis method. As there was heterogeneity in the type of interventions, study design, and outcomes, the study results were not pooled statistically in meta analysis. Results Of the 35 studies included in the analysis, 16 studies aimed to describe intervention strategies, while 19 studies were to evaluate effectiveness of interventions. The targeted population were mainly refugees and asylum seekers caused by the war, violence and other tortures, while only one study targeted at reservoir migrants. All the psychological interventions were divided into prevention intervention and treatment intervention. The main interventions include: integrated psychological intervention, group treatment, cognitive behavior therapy, testimony, narrative exposure therapy, supportive counseling service, family support and therapy, etc. Of which, integrated psychological interventions are the most common intervention. Most of the studies evaluating effectiveness are observational studies, while only six are controlled trials. The results of most evaluation studies show that the implemented psychological interventions have positive impact on mental health of involuntary migrants. Conclusions There are limited intervention studies on mental health of involuntary migrants, and evaluation studies are lack of rigorous design. More research especially preventive intervention study is required. High-quality trials with large sample and rigorous design are needed to evaluate the most effective psycho-interventions for different groups of involuntary migrants.
Objective To investigate the psychological state of college students in the areas affected by the Wenchuan earthquake. Methods A total of 562 college students were selected by stratified random cluster sampling. A self-designed questionnaire as well as Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were used for survey. Results The SDS scores (46.16±11.95) and SAS scores (34.60±6.50) of the college students were significantly higher than those of the national norms (Plt;0.001), while the SSRS scores (40.46±8.76) were lower than those of the national norms (Plt;0.001). The scores of SSRS and its three dimensions were positively correlated with the SAS scores and were negatively correlated with the SDS scores. Conclusion The college students in the areas affected by the Wenchuan earthquake suffer from anxiety and depression disorders. Good social support is one of the important measures to maintain their mental health.
Objective To investigate the mental status of medical staffs in the orthopedics department during the earthquake, providing evidence for psychological intervention. Methods Choosing 104 staffs in the orthopedics department as eligible subject with convenient sampling; the research tool was Symptom Checklist-90. The questionnaire was done by the participants with the same instruction from psychological professionals; analyze the results. Results The score in somatization, anxiety and phobic anxiety of staffs in the orthopedics department was significantly higher than the national norm. Conclusion There exists disorder in mental health of medical staffs in orthopedics department, it is necessary to implement mental intervention.
Objective To raise policy suggestions for public health bureaus by analyzing the mental health service in Chengdu City in 2004. Methods We applied descriptive methods to analyze the mental health service. Results The mental health resources in Chengdu City were insufficient and the utilization rate of health resources was low. Conclusions Strategies to improve this may include setting up mental health management sections; increasing the funds for health service; strengthening professionals training; exploiting the service field of relevant specialties and developing community mental health.