Orly Sarid

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev | bgu · Department of Social Work

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease associated with psychological distress and intestinal microbial changes. Here, we examined whether a 3-month period of Cognitive Behavioral and Mindfulness with Daily Exercise (COBMINDEX) intervention, which improves the wellbeing and inflammatory state of CD patients, may also affect the...

Introduction We developed and evaluated a short-term group intervention aimed at promoting effective coping and alleviating adverse mental health impacts during the first wave of COVID-19 in Israel. The intervention consists of seven sessions, each including: a guided group discussion, and learning and practicing cognitive-behavioral and mindfulnes...

Objectives Cognitive behavioral and mindfulness interventions have been shown to promote well-being in individuals with chronic illness. However, the underlying psychological processes through which these interventions impact well-being are not fully explored. This secondary analysis study aimed to examine the role of perceived social support, inte...

Background The period of pregnancy and early motherhood is a substantial life change associated with psychological turbulence. During this period, some women experience symptoms of anxiety and depression of sufficient severity to warrant professional psychological assistance. Psychosocial and psychological interventions are key therapeutic approach...

Background Chronic abdominal pain and fatigue are characteristics of Crohn's disease (CD) and contribute to functional impairments. Aims To examine whether CD‐tailored cognitive‐behavioural and mindfulness intervention (COBMINDEX) is effective in reducing abdominal pain and fatigue in patients with CD and whether changes in abdominal pain and fati...

Introduction The combination of cognitive behavioral interventions and art therapy provides a unique tool for image transformation as a strategy for managing distress in extremely stressful situations. Previous studies offer evidence of the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral- and art-based (CB-ART) interventions in reducing stress related to com...

Background: Older adults have been considered a primary at-risk population during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and many efforts have been and still are directed toward supporting them and enhancing their capacity to cope with the pandemic. Evidence shows that by enhancing proactive coping abilities through psychological interv...

Cognitive–behavioral interventions can effectively treat symptoms of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). We assessed the acceptability and effectiveness of a workbook-based intervention (What Am I Worried About? (WAWA)) comprising of cognitive–behavioral and mindfulness techniques and weekly professional guidance to address symptoms of de...

Social distancing has been proven to be effective in reducing infections but may cause ill effects on the mental health of older adults. We evaluated the effects of a short-term virtual group intervention that provided tools to promote better coping, and mitigate adverse mental health effects during the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic. A Randomiz...

Background and aims Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease associated with psychological stress that is regulated primarily by the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Here, we determined whether the psychological characteristics of CD patients associate with their inflammatory state, and whether a 3-month trial of cogni...

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an acceleration in the development of web-based interventions to alleviate related mental health impacts. The current study explored the effects of a short-term digital group intervention aimed at providing cognitive behavioral and mindfulness tools and skills to reduce loneliness and depression and...

During the first COVID-19 wave, we conducted a Zoom and WhatsApp digital group intervention that promoted community-dwelling older individuals’ mental health. Based on the media richness theory (MRT) and affordances approach, in this study we used netnography to explore how Zoom and WhatsApp technological affordances/constraints matched interventio...

Background Postpartum depression (PPD) may have adverse outcomes for mothers, their infants, and families. Despite the negative consequences of PPD many women hesitate to seek treatment. The theoretical concepts of this study were based on the health belief model, which focuses on the individual’s attitudes, beliefs, and intentions to seek treatmen...

During the first COVID-19 wave, we conducted a Zoom and WhatsApp digital group intervention that promoted community-dwelling seniors’ mental health. A total of 82 community-dwelling adults participated in this intervention. Based on the media richness theory (MRT) and the affordances approach, we used netnography to explore how group moderators and...

Background Crohn’s disease (CD) is associated with psychological stress and alteration of gut microbiota as compared to healthy individuals. Previous work has reported imbalances in CD patients across four major bacterial phyla including Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. We aimed to determine the effect on gut microbiota...

Background Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease associated with psychological stress that is regulated primarily by the pituitary-hypophysis-adrenal (HPA) axis. Here, we determined whether the psychological characteristics of CD patients associate with their inflammatory state, and whether a 3-month period of Cognitive Behav...

Background Medical and psychological factors contribute to the heightened psychological distress and reduced health-related quality of life in patients with Crohn’s disease. Whether Social Support plays a role in this scenario is unknown. We used the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) to investigate whether Social Support as...

Background Patients with Crohn disease have debilitating psychological symptoms, mental fatigue, and poor quality of life. Psychological intervention may improve these symptoms. Methods We performed a randomized parallel-group physician-blinded trial of cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based stress reduction (COBMINDEX) on quality of life and...

Older individuals are at an increased risk of experiencing adverse social and health consequences due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to manage it, such as social distancing. To promote community-dwelling older individuals' well-being during this time, the aims of the current project are to develop effective strategies in order...

Community crises require the provision of short-term reflective intervention methods to help service users identify stressors, and access and intensify their adaptive coping. Here, we demonstrate the use of a single-session online cognitive behavioral- and art-based (CB-ART) intervention within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this method,...

Objective The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) is a self-report measure of psychological symptoms in clinical and non-clinical populations. However, norms for BSI are lacking for patients with chronic illness, such as Crohn’s disease (CD). This study aimed to provide BSI clinical norms using a cohort of CD patients. Design Adult Israeli CD patients (...

Postpartum depression (PPD) has detrimental effects on the health of the mother, child and family. Socio-demographic variables can influence PPD. Sense of coherence (SOC) is a personal resource that mitigates the experience of stressful events. We hypothesized that SOC would have a protective effect against PPD over time. The aim was to investigate...

Incorporating the needs of at-risk populations into national health care initiatives is essential. Israel has identified ultra-Orthodox Jewish, or Haredi, women, as at risk of increased morbidity and mortality, yet actual data on this insular community are lacking. We reviewed published research on Israeli Haredi women’s health status, behaviors an...

Patients with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, struggle with chronic somatic symptoms that could bring about emotional distress. This study assessed the relative role of somatization, and depressive and anxiety symptoms in disease activity among 619 Crohn’s patients (18–79 years; 58.3% women). Structural equation modeling revealed th...

Background Crohn’s disease (CD) patients have reduced quality-of-life (QoL) in physical, emotional and social domains, and diminished work and leisure activities. We examined whether Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Cognitive Intervention (‘Intervention’) can improve QoL and ability to work. Methods Patients (≥18 years), Harvey–Bradshaw Inde...

Background Health-related quality-of-life by the self-report, disease-specific Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ) is increasingly used as an outcome measure in Crohn`s disease (CD) patients in clinical trials. Higher SIBDQ scores indicate better quality-of-life; the range is 10 to 70. However, the construct validity of SIBDQ and...

Background: The prevalence rate of postpartum depression (PPD) is 9 to 17% among mothers, with higher rates among low income and immigrant populations. Due to the negative effects of PPD symptoms on both the mother and baby, treating mothers with depression symptoms is of great importance. This study examined treatment preferences for PPD among Is...

Background Crohn’s disease patients suffer from a host of mental symptoms, particularly when the disease is active (Schwartz D et al. United European Gastroenterol J 2018; 6: Supplement 1). We postulated that psychological distress can be diminished by teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to patients using an internet-based format. M...

Purpose Coping and communication strategies affect how one perceives potentially stressful life events, such as infertility. Cognitive behavioral interventions (CBI) can reduce the distress related to undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of CBI on the coping and communication skills as well as...

Research exists about religiosity as a substance use protective factor. However, there is little attention of this issue regarding Israeli female college students. Undergraduate religious and secular students were studied. Religious students reported lower last month tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and non-medical prescription drug use. Secular females...

Background Psychological distress increases morbidity in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). We examined whether social support is associated with distress and disease activity. Methods There were 110 UC and 147 CD patients who completed sociodemography, economic status, disease activity (UC: Patient Simple Clinical Colitis Activity...

To compare the health beliefs and infant vaccination behavior of mothers of four different ethno-cultural backgrounds: Israeli-born Jewish and Arab-Bedouin and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia; to examine the associations between initial and subsequent infant vaccination behaviors of mothers and to identify predictors of vaccina...

PurposeHow psycho-social variables affect the degree of disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) is incompletely understood. Therefore, we measured and compared the impact of psycho-social variables on the active disease state in UC and CD.Method One hundred and twenty-two UC and 305 CD patients with active...

Background Crohn’s disease (CD) patients all experience psychological distress, but its characteristics are incompletely understood. We report an in-depth cross-sectional study in 297 patients. Methods The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI, Derogatis 1983) measures psychological distress: 59 items assess depression, somatization, obsession-compulsive,...

Objective: To examine the associations of daily hassles with the somatic and psychological health of Crohn's disease (CD) patients. Method: A cross-sectional study of 400 self-selected adult CD patients was performed with completion of demographic, medical, and psychosocial questionnaires: economic status; Patient Harvey-Bradshaw Index of diseas...

The Israeli worldview places great significance on childbearing. This could create emotional and ethical difficulties for women coping with fertility issues in addition to their treatments. This study examined the relations between coping strategies and level of religiosity in 159 women undergoing infertility treatment. Statistically significant re...

This cross sectional study examined alcohol use, binge drinking and other problem behavior among Israeli university female students. Scant information is known about Israeli university student alcohol use and related problem behavior. Academic study discipline status (e.g., social work, nursing and other non-helping disciplines) was hypothesized to...

Objective To identify coping strategies and socio-demographics impacting satisfaction with life and quality of life in Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods 402 patients completed the Patient Harvey-Bradshaw Index, Brief COPE Inventory, Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ). We performed structural equ...

Table A. Pearson correlation coefficients matrix of the demographic, medical and psychological characteristics of the cohort, separated by the state of disease and by gender. (DOCX)

AIM To determine whether pain has psycho-social associations in adult Crohn’s disease (CD) patients. METHODS Patients completed demographics, disease status, Patient Harvey-Bradshaw Index (P-HBI), Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ), and five socio-psychological questionnaires: Brief Symptom Inv...

Background: While the medical causes for exacerbation of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are well known, the impact of psycho-social variables on the activity of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are poorly understood. We determined the impact of psycho-social variables in active CD and UC. Methods: Our ongoing nation-wide psycho-so...

Background and aims: We published that threatening life experiences and adverse family relations impact Crohn's disease (CD) adversely. In this study, we examine the influence of these stressors in ulcerative colitis (UC). Patients and methods: Patients completed demography, economic status (ES), the Patient-Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Inde...

Background Suicidal ideation is a risk factor for suicide attempt. The aim of the present study is to compare suicidal ideation of different groups with different distress. Methods 100 soldiers, aged 18–21, divided into four research cohorts: soldiers who had carried out a suicide attempt (n = 40); soldiers with a psychiatric diagnosis (n = 20); s...

The following is a case study of the blizzard of October 2014, an Israeli rescue team, the Special Mental Health Team (SMHT) of the Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps, was sent to the disaster area to rescue Israeli trekkers. The SMHT intervention was provided immediately following the traumatic events with the purpose of lowering stress-related...

The use of harmful substances is a worldwide problem that has a major impact on maternal parenting skills. This study, conducted in cooperation with Professor Debra Murphy of Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California, Los Angeles, examined personal characteristics of substance-abusing mothers and their parenting skills. The stud...

Familiar fragrances usually induce positive mood states and elicit favorable evaluation. Relaxation is also widely thought to improve mood state. Yet experimental evidence on the effect of two different stimuli, fragrance smelling and breathing relaxation, on mood state, and fragrance evaluation is lacking. This study aimed to test (1) the effect o...

Background: There is a dearth of information about mothers in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), their parental stress, and suicidal ideation. Aim: To evaluate parenting stress and suicidal ideation among heroin-dependent mothers in MMT. Method: The study was conducted at an MMT center. Inclusion criteria were mothers with at least one chi...

Perceived stress and stress reduction interventions have a mixed relationship with fecundity. The objective of this study is to attempt and disentangle these relationships by looking at practicing stress reduction techniques and fecundity and examining their relationship to a behavioral and a neuroendocrine measure of stress.

This paper presents an overview of a combined, evaluated protocol, cognitive behavioural and art therapy treatment (CB-ART), for the treatment of women with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). The protocol integrates cognitive behavioural interventions and art therapy. CB-ART focuses on changing distressing image, symptom or memory (ISM)...

Aims: 1. To examine the rate of WCV among mothers in four ethno-cultural groups: native-born Jewish, Bedouin and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Ethiopia; 2. to test the relationship between WCV in the first and second year of the infant's life; 3. to assess the effect of sociodemographic variables on WCV. Background: Consisten...

Research on immigration underscores the importance of language acculturation in successful adjustment to life in a new country. However, the profound impact of different levels of language proficiency between immigrant spouses on their married life is an understudied topic. The current study explores whether differences between immigrant spouses in...

Background and aims: Threatening life experiences and adverse family relations are major psychosocial stressors affecting mental and physical health in chronic illnesses, but their influence in Crohn's disease (CD) is unclear. We assessed whether these stressors would predict the psychological and medical condition of CD patients. Methods: Conse...

Nepal suffered a major 7.8 Richter Scale earthquake on April 25, 2015. At the time of the earthquake, 116 young adult Nepalese were studying in Israel. This study examined the effect of a single-session intervention that combined knowledge about stress responses and effective coping with drawing to reduce their stress 4 days after the earthquake. T...

Abstract Background: Suicidal ideation is a risk factor for suicide attempt. The aim of the present study is to compare suicidal ideation of different groups with different distress. Methods: 100 soldiers, aged 18–21, divided into four research cohorts: soldiers who had carried out a suicide attempt (n = 40); soldiers with a psychiatric diagnosis...

Purpose: The current research is aimed at finding potential non-invasive bio-markers that will help us learn more about the mechanisms at play in failed assisted reproduction treatment. This exploratory pilot study examined the relationship between cell-free DNA (CFD) in plasma and telomere length in lymphocytes among women undergoing in vitro fer...

Background and AimsEstimating health-related utility weights in Crohn's Disease (CD) patients is crucial for assessing the cost-effectiveness of new pharmaceutical interventions. Values used in most analyses are based on secondary data and vary substantially among studies. We estimated utility weights in a consecutive sample of real-world CD patien...

Art therapy, as well as other arts-based therapies and interventions, is used to reduce pain, stress, depression, breathlessness and other symptoms in a wide variety of serious and chronic diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer and schizophrenia. Arts-based approaches are also known to contribute to one's well-being and quality of life. However, much...

ABSTRACT Appraisal of anger terms is based on past experience recollections, social norms, and gender roles. The objectives of this study were to find combinations of emotional components presented by a new composite variable that will exhibit differences between genders and differentiate between anger terms in Hebrew. The sample was comprised of f...