The Handbook of Women, Stress and Trauma focuses on the stresses and traumas that are unique to the lives of women. It is the first text to merge research from the fields of trauma and women's health ...and development. Using a lifespan developmental approach, the text begins by addressing specific issues women face in their lives, drawing upon theories of development and exploring how women's relationships with others buffer - or sometimes cause - stress and trauma. Combining aspects of female development with empirical data from the fields of women's health, family violence and stress and coping, this volume helps sensitive care providers to the specific needs of women exposed to traumatic events.
Distress Tolerance Zvolensky, Michael J; Bernstein, Amit; Vujanovic, Anka A
2010
eBook
This state-of-the-art volume synthesizes the growing body of knowledge on the role of distress tolerance-the ability to withstand aversive internal states such as negative emotions and uncomfortable ...bodily sensations-in psychopathology. Prominent contributors describe how the construct has been conceptualized and measured and examine its links to a range of specific psychological disorders. Exemplary treatment approaches that target distress tolerance are reviewed. Featuring compelling clinical illustrations, the book highlights implications of the research for better understanding how psychological problems develop and how to assess and treat them effectively.
The subjects of stress and animal welfare are currently attracting immense interest. This book brings together a range of perspectives from biomedical research (including human health and animal ...models of human stress) on stress and welfare, and assesses new approaches to conceptualising and alleviating stress.
As journalists in Iraq and other hot spots around the world continue to face harrowing dangers and personal threats, neuropsychiatrist Anthony Feinstein offers a timely and important exploration into ...the psychological damage of those who, armed only with pen, tape recorder, or camera, bear witness to horror. Based on a series of recent studies investigating the emotional impact of war on the profession, Journalists under Fire breaks new ground in the study of trauma-related disorders.
Feinstein opens with an overview of the life-threatening hazards war reporters face—abductions, mock executions, the deaths of close colleagues—and discusses their psychological consequences: post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, deterioration of personal relationships, and substance abuse. In recounting the experiences of reporters who encounter trauma on the job, Feinstein observes that few adequate support systems are in place for them. He tells the stories of media veterans who have seen it all, only to find themselves and their employers blindsided by psychological aftershocks.
The book explores the biological and psychological factors that motivate journalists to take extraordinary risks. Feinstein looks into the psyches of freelancers who wade into war zones with little or no financial backing; he examines the different stresses encountered by women working in a historically male-dominated profession; and he probes the effects of the September 11 attacks on reporters who thought they had sworn off conflict reporting. His interviews with many of this generation's greatest reporters, photographers, and videographers often reveal extraordinary resilience in the face of adversity.
Journalists under Fire is a look behind the public persona of war journalists at a time when the profession faces unprecedented risk. Plucking common threads from disparate stories, Feinstein weaves a narrative that is as fascinating to read as it is sobering to contemplate. What emerges are unique insights into lives lived dangerously.
Introduction
Prenatal maternal distress has a negative impact on the course of pregnancy, fetal development, offspring development, and later psychopathologies. The study aimed to determine the ...extent to which the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic may aggravate the prenatal distress and psychiatric symptomatology of pregnant women.
Material and methods
Two cohorts of pregnant volunteer women were evaluated, one that was recruited before the COVID‐19 pandemic (n = 496) through advertisements in prenatal clinics in Quebec, Canada, from April 2018 to March 2020; the other (n = 1258) was recruited online during the pandemic from 2 April to 13 April 2020. Prenatal distress and psychiatric symptomatology were measured with the Kessler Distress Scale (K10), Post‐traumatic Checklist for DSM‐5 (PCL‐5), Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES‐II), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).
Results
The 1754 pregnant women (Mage = 29.27, SD = 4.23) were between 4 and 41 gestational weeks (M = 24.80, SD = 9.42), were generally educated (91.3% had post‐high‐school training), and financially well‐resourced (85.3% were above the low‐income cut‐off). A multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for age, gestational age, household income, education, and lifetime psychiatric disorders showed a large effect size (ES) in the difference between the two cohorts on psychiatric symptoms (Wilks’ λ = 0.68, F6,1400 = 108.50, P < .001, partial η2 = 0.32). According to post‐hoc analyses of covariance, the COVID‐19 women reported higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms (ES = 0.57), dissociative symptoms (ES = 0.22 and ES = 0.25), symptoms of post‐traumatic stress disorder (ES = 0.19), and negative affectivity (ES = 0.96), and less positive affectivity (ES = 0.95) than the pre‐COVID‐19 cohort. Women from the COVID‐19 cohort were more likely than pre‐COVID‐19 women to present clinically significant levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.94, χ21 = 10.05, P = .002). Multiple regression analyses indicated that pregnant women in the COVID‐19 cohort having a previous psychiatric diagnosis or low income would be more prone to elevated distress and psychiatric symptoms.
Conclusions
Pregnant women assessed during the COVID‐19 pandemic reported more distress and psychiatric symptoms than pregnant women assessed before the pandemic, mainly in the form of depression and anxiety symptoms. Given the harmful consequences of prenatal distress on mothers and offspring, the presently observed upsurge of symptoms in pregnant women calls for special means of clinical surveillance.
Purpose
Health care professionals, particularly nurses, are considered a vulnerable group to experience acute stress disorder (ASD) and subsequent psychological distress amid COVID‐19 pandemic. This ...study aims to establish the prevalence of acute stress disorder and predictors of psychological distress among Jordanian nurses.
Methods
A quantitative, cross‐sectional, descriptive and comparative design was used. Data were collected using a Web‐based survey. A total of 448 Jordanian nurses (73% females) completed and returned the study questionnaire.
Results
The majority of nurses (64%) are experiencing ASD due to the COVID‐19 pandemic and thus are at risk for PTSD predisposition. More than one‐third of nurses (41%) are also suffering significant psychological distress. Among our sample, age, ASD and coping self‐efficacy significantly predicted psychological distress. More specifically, younger nurses are more prone to experience psychological distress than older ones. While higher scores on ASD showed more resultant psychological distress, coping self‐efficacy was a protective factor.
Conclusion
Given that individuals who suffer from ASD are predisposed to PTSD, follow‐up with nurses to screen for PTSD and referral to appropriate psychological services is pivotal. Coping self‐efficacy is found to ameliorate the effect of psychological distress on nurses' traumatic experience. Such findings warrant intensive efforts from health care institutions to provide psychosocial support services for nurses and ongoing efforts to screen them for traumatic and psychological distress symptoms.
Implications for Nursing Management
Nursing leaders and managers are in the forefront of responding to the unique needs of their workforces during the COVID‐19 crisis. They need to implement stress‐reduction strategies for nurses through providing consecutive rest days, rotating allocations of complex patients, arranging support services and being accessible to staff. They also need to ensure nurses' personal safety through securing and providing personal safety measures and undertake briefings to ensure their staff's physical and mental well‐being, as well as providing referrals to appropriate psychological services.
The phytohormone cytokinin was originally discovered as a regulator of cell division. Later, it was described to be involved in regulating numerous processes in plant growth and development including ...meristem activity, tissue patterning, and organ size. More recently, diverse functions for cytokinin in the response to abiotic and biotic stresses have been reported. Cytokinin is required for the defence against high light stress and to protect plants from a novel type of abiotic stress caused by an altered photoperiod. Additionally, cytokinin has a role in the response to temperature, drought, osmotic, salt, and nutrient stress. Similarly, the full response to certain plant pathogens and herbivores requires a functional cytokinin signalling pathway. Conversely, different types of stress impact cytokinin homeostasis. The diverse functions of cytokinin in responses to stress and crosstalk with other hormones are described. Its emerging roles as a priming agent and as a regulator of growth‐defence trade‐offs are discussed.
This review describes the numerous functions of cytokinin in the defence against abiotic and biotic stresses, highlighting signalling pathways responding to light stress, drought, or pathogen attack. The role of cytokinin in priming and regulating growth‐defence trade‐off is addressed as well.
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