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Financial threat, hardship, and distress predict depression, anxiety and stress among unemployed youth: A Bangladeshi multi-city study
Abstract
Introduction: Unemployment has a contributory role in the development of mental health problems and in Bangladesh there is increasing unemployment, particularly among youth. Consequently, the present study investigated depression, anxiety, and stress among recent graduates in a multi-city study across the country.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 988 Bangladeshi graduate jobseekers in six major cities of the country between August to November 2019. The measures included socio-demographics and life-style factors, study and job-related information, Economic Hardship Questionnaire, Financial Threat Scale, Financial Well-Being Scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21.
Results: Depression, anxiety and stress rates among the present sample were 81.1% (n=801), 61.5% (n=608) and 64.8% (n=640) respectively. Factors related to gender, age, socio-economic conditions, educational background, lack of extra-curricular activities, and high screen activity were significant risk factors of depression, anxiety, and stress. Structural equation modeling indicated that (while controlling for age, daily time spent on sleep study, and social media use), financial threat was moderately positively related to depression, anxiety, and stress. Financial hardship was weakly positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas financial wellbeing was weakly negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress.
Limitations: Due to the nature of the present study (i.e., cross-sectional study) and sampling method (i.e., convenience sampling), determining causality between the variables is not possible.
Conclusions: The present results emphasized the important detrimental role of financial troubles on young people’s mental health by showing that financial problems among unemployed youth predict elevated psychiatric distress in both men and women.
... Young people in many world countries, even in developed countries, face this problem. The increase in anxiety among university students causes the emergence of many physiological problems, such as depression, mental and heart diseases and so on (14). Therefore, it is very important to determine the factors that cause students' anxiety and the ways and methods to reduce these anxieties. ...
... It is possible to find many studies in the literature on the relationship between unemployment anxiety and depression (14)(15)(16)(17). However, these studies contain some shortcomings in some points. ...
... Responses are rated on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from "Not at all" (0) to "Severely" (3). The total score, derived by summing all items, ranges from 0 to 63. BDI scores were then classified into four categories: minimal or absent depression (0-13), mild depression (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19), moderate depression (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28), and severe depression . Participants scoring in the moderate to severe range were identified as experiencing depression. ...
Background
This study aims to determine how the unemployment anxiety of university students affects their depression level. It also examines the mediating role of the feeling of personal unaccomplishment between these effects.
Methods
The data was analyzed using the PROCESS method. The research was conducted on 843 students attending different public or foundation (private) universities in Türkiye. Random sampling was used to select the participants.
Results
As a result of the analysis, it was determined that there is a positive, significant, moderate (R = 0.509, p < 0.01) relationship between unemployment anxiety and depression and a positive, significant and weak relationship between unemployment anxiety and feeling of personal unaccomplishment (R = 0.102, p < 0.01), there is a positive, significant, and weak (R = 0.184, p < 0.01) relationship between feeling of personal unaccomplishment and depression. Unemployment anxiety of university students had significant and positive effects on their depression level and significant and positive effects on feelings of personal unaccomplishment of students.
Conclusion
As a result of the mediating variable analysis, it was determined that the feeling of personal unaccomplishment has a partial mediator role in the relationship between unemployment anxiety and depression.
... The literature has shown that financial threats are harmful to performance [8] as well as mental health and psychological well-being [9][10][11]. Notably, mental health and wellbeing are related to employee performance [12,13]. ...
... Some empirical studies have supported the hypothetical relationship between financial threat and perceived stress. For example, an analysis of the self-report of 988 job seekers aged 22 to 29 in Bangladesh showed that financial threat was positively associated with stress regardless of gender [11]. Similar results were reported in a study with a sample of 729 participants with a mean age of 36.99 (SD = 12.81) in Portugal. ...
... Supporting the second hypothesis, our results revealed a positive relationship between financial threat and perceived stress. These findings are consistent with previous studies [11,32], which have shown that working adults reporting higher levels of financial threat often experience increased stress levels. Notably, our results not only provide further empirical support for the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory [24] but also underscore the importance of providing adequate resources to working adults. ...
Financial threat refers to fear, unease, and uncertainty regarding an individual’s present or forthcoming financial state. Despite consistent findings indicating that financial threats are harmful to individuals’ behaviors and mental health, their impacts remain largely unexplored in the context of organizational behaviors. This study examined whether and how financial threats are detrimental to various aspects of employees’ performance, including task, contextual, and counterproductive performance. A sample of 165 working adults in Malaysia responded to an online survey consisting of the Financial Threat Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the structure of the measurements, although some items were eliminated. Pearson correlation analysis showed that financial threats had a positive relationship with perceived stress and counterproductive performance. Meanwhile, perceived stress was negatively related to task performance and positively associated with counterproductive performance. Finally, structural equation modeling revealed that perceived stress mediates the relationship between financial threats and counterproductive performance. These findings illuminate the underlying mechanisms by which financial threats impact employees’ job performance. They also highlight the importance of addressing resource depletion’s effects on the mental health of working adults. The implications of these findings for organizational management and employee well-being are discussed.
... Bangladesh, a country with a diverse cultural past and now undergoing substantial urban and socioeconomic changes, finds itself at a fascinating juncture in relation to these health-related issues. The health concerns in question are further complicated by the distinctive sociocultural fabric of the community, which is intricately interwoven with the challenges posed by modernization and economic development (11). Urbanization presents a distinct array of obstacles, with conventional cultural institutions persisting and exerting their influence, hence exacerbating mental health concerns, drug use, and the subsequent societal ramifications. ...
... The economic impact of a population experiencing mental anguish, coupled with increasing rates of drug addiction, eventually leads to a reduction in labour efficiency and production. The aforementioned tendency has significant economic implications, perhaps resulting in a decline in GDP growth and an increase in unemployment rates (11). ...
... Recommendation: It is essential to take the lead in implementing comprehensive awareness programmes. These programmes should not only aim to educate the public on the seriousness of these problems, but also place a high priority on reducing the stigma associated with mental health difficulties (11) and drug dependency. The amplification of reach and resonance may be achieved via collaborative endeavours that include several stakeholders such as the government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), media organisations, and educational institutions . ...
Overview: Within the dynamic socio-health context of Bangladesh, there is a multifaceted interaction between the declining state of mental health, increased prevalence of illicit drug use, heightened cigarette usage, and the growing inclination towards suicide behaviour. The aforementioned events, characterised by rapid socio-cultural transformations, increased urbanisation, and significant economic strains, combined indicate a worrisome trajectory for the field of public health in the country. It is crucial to have a sophisticated understanding of these interconnected difficulties in order to develop effective treatments. This comprehensive analysis thoroughly examines the many aspects of the interrelated health problems, emphasising the crucial need for integrated and culturally sensitive approaches to guide Bangladesh towards a healthier future.
... Some of them start studying for Bangladesh Civil Services (BCS) from their university life. In a survey on the students of University of Dhaka by Mamun et al., (2020) almost half of the participants stated that they preferred a career in Bangladesh Civil Service. The reasons for choosing the public sector were job security, paid leaves, fewer working hours and more days of the termination notice. ...
... Public jobs are seen as highly prestigious, and it comes with administrative power. The working environment is much simpler, and the wage is also high (Mamun et al., 2020;Rafi et al., 2019;Rashid, 2019;Zohara, 2017). This paper used a choice experiment involving 213 students at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) to determine students" preference for specific benefits associated with different types of employment. ...
... Preparing for Bangladesh Civil Service needs rigorous studying and most of the candidates remain unemployed or seek part-time employment at that time. In a study about the mental health of BCS candidates by Mamun et al., (2020), those who were trying for BCS were found significantly more depressed than others. The pervasiveness of depression and stress among the BCS candidates were respectively 49.3 percent and 28.3 percent (Rafi et al., 2019). ...
Today employees compete for qualified individuals and try to reduce employee turnover as a profit maximizing condition. That is why a proper understanding of employees' demands, including and beyond wage, is critical. The paper examines how various job attributes affect university students’ utility and their tendencies to choose different types of jobs. This study adopted the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) to find the Willingness to accept (WTA) among 213 students of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP). This study identified four essential job attributes such as monthly wage, job security, working hours and the opportunity of using the knowledge or skills they gained during their bachelor’s or masters and quantify the tradeoff preference among these four attributes. The paper finds that students prefer the public job sector more than the private job, entrepreneurship, and higher study. Having job security increases their utility by 35.8 percent and they require an amount of 16 thousand taka in the absence of job security. Working for long hours such as 46-60 hours and 61-75 hours decreases their utility by 39 percent and 25.2 percent respectively. Moreover, Female students are required more compensation than males for longer working hours whereas male students put more value on high wages.
... Service job seekers (Rafi et al., 2019), but is considerably lower (81.1%) than the unemployed 294 youth (Mamun et al., 2020). In contrast, prevalence of anxiety symptoms is higher than that 295 ...
... developing anxiety symptoms in this study, with unemployed participants showing nearly double 370 the risk of anxiety symptoms. This finding aligns with previous research, where financial threat 371 and hardship were found to be positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and stress, while 372 financial well-being was negatively correlated with anxiety (Mamun et al., 2020). The 373 psychological impact of unemployment can lead to feelings of neglect and frustration, which may 374 escalate to suicidal thoughts in extreme cases (Lim et al., 2018).These findings highlight the 375 importance of financial stability and family support for mental well-being among job-seeking 376 ...
... The strongest negative correlations occurred between depression, GS, MM, and FF. Those findings are in accordance with previous studies that found negative associations between subjective FWB and mental health (Hassan Mamun et al., 2020). It is noteworthy that an exploratory structural equation modeling of the Canadian MSFWBS adaptation study (Aubrey et al., 2022), reveal that subjective FWB explains a significant portion of variance in perceived stress (R 2 = 35.20%) ...
... They also hypothesized that their correlations with personal income would be higher if they are specific to only employed individuals. We agree with this hypothesis and believe that it may also apply to family income, especially considering that in our sample, employed individuals had higher subjective FWB scores (in PC and FF dimensions) than unemployed individuals, which is in accordance with previous studies (Hassan et al., 2021;Mamun et al., 2020). Another possible explanation for the non-significant correlation between family income and MM may be that high-income individuals usually report lower MM stress, while low-income individuals report higher MM stress (Netemeyer et al., 2018). ...
The financial situation of Brazilians is a frequent topic of research due to the country’s financial instability. However, there are few instruments available to measure financial constructs in Brazil. Therefore, this study aims to conduct the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of The Multidimensional Subjective Financial Well-being Scale (MSFWBS) for Brazilian adults. To ensure the conceptual adaptation and language clarity of instrument items, experts (n = 5) and target population (n = 15) were invited to rate (quantitative data) and comment (qualitative data) on instrument adequacy. After the cross-cultural adaptation, multiple psychometric properties (reliability evidence, factorial, convergent and external validity) of the Brazilian MSFWBS version were assessed among 529 Brazilian adults. Through an exploratory factor analysis done by the extraction method of minimum rank factor analysis, we found the same 5-factor multidimensional structure proposed in the MSFWBS original version. The items showed adequate factor loadings and the retained factors explained 66.3% of the shared item’s variance, with reliability evidence range from ω = 0.83 to .94 among the factors. We also found convergent (with well-being and psychopathological symptoms) and external (with occupational status) validity of MSFWBS scores. Therefore, our results demonstrated that the instrument is adequate to measure Brazilian adults’ subjective financial well-being. This study contributes to the advancement of the research on financial well-being by providing a new measurement for Brazilian adults.
... Employment anxiety refers to the impulsion, ambiguous fears, insecurities, and spiritual reactions regarding one or more components of a specific job, which creates tension among people regarding their future position (Rosenblatt & Ruvio, 1996). The anxiety of joblessness, which worsens helplessness, plays a crucial role in developing depressive symptoms among students (Mamun et al., 2020). The global pandemic has resulted in job cuts and job insecurity, and has created mental stress (Akkermans, Richardson, & Kraimer, 2020;Antipova, 2021;Hartley, Jacobson, Klandermans, & Van Vuuren, 1990). ...
... Such anxiety ultimately leads to depression, with research showing that depression is closely associated with employment (Ezawa, Bartels, & Strunk, 2021). Similarly, in our study, H1 is statistically supported, illustrating a positive relationship between depression and employment anxiety, which validates the notion that with an increase in employment anxiety, depressive symptoms become noticeable (Mamun et al., 2020). ...
... Unemployment has been a long-standing issue especially among university graduates (Mamun et al., 2020), Globally, Bangladesh is ranked the second highest at 10.7% after Pakistan in Asia (International Labour Organization, 2019). In Vietnam, only one in ten graduates is employed (Pham, 2013). ...
... It is then right to conclude that such women could encounter myriad consequences such as genderbased violence, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and postpartum depression, which further exacerbate their psychological disposition. However, Mamun et al (2020) agree that good support system buffer against criminal activities because they provide much needed support such food, pocket money and motivation without any discrimination. Thus, participants highlighted that their family members and friends support them with money to buy airtime to access internet to keep on searching for employment and prayers in the face of adversity. ...
Previous research unemployment continues to escalate and yields debilitating effects such as pessimism, languishing, impaired sense of purpose in life and exposure to risk sexual behaviour. In qualitative research approach, twelve participants, namely, six male graduates and six female graduates from one university under Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, were interviewed after they gave their consent. The Ethical Clearance Certificate (KHE031SBAC01) from the designated university permitted the researcher to ensure that the participants' informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, and rights to dignity are respected, thus, none of the participants withdrew from the study. The tape-recording device was used as the data instrument. Using Tesch's thematic analysis for categorizing and grouping themes, the researchers read and reread the statements given by the participants for confirmability. In exploring the psychological well-being of unemployed graduates in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, the following theoretical frameworks were followed: Jahoda's latent deprivation theory, Hobfoll's conservation of resource theory and Festinger's social comparison theory. Findings established that in the community, unemployed graduates are perceived as failures, thus, they reported social isolation, suicidal ideation, hopelessness, lack of self-confidence and substance abuse as a form of coping. Half of the female participants revealed to have developed sexual relationships with multiple sexual partners for economic survival and to provide for their children while male participants expressed addiction to substances, and criminal behaviour. However, unemployed graduates whose family members and friends provided spiritual and financial support, reported to have buffered against the stigma. Based on these findings, there is a need for the government sectors to provide internship programmes and business opportunities for the unemployed graduates. Finally, an intervention of the social service professionals such as social workers and psychologists could mitigate the scourge of impaired psychological functioning among the unemployed graduates.
... Financial problems contribute to an increase in negative psychosocial outcomes, such as psychological distress, depression, suicidal intent, and dissatisfaction with life, among others (Mamun et al., 2020). The financial threat is the way in which the person evaluates stressful situations and usually produces fear, worry, or uncertainty of financial stability and security, because as there is a financial crisis, financial situations also deteriorate (Marjanovic et al., 2015). ...
... The analysis of threat levels is followed by an evaluation of the potential aspects to address financial threats. Financial threats increase in times of crisis or financial deterioration (Folkman, 2013;Mamun et al., 2020). ...
Crises negatively affect the economy of a country, increasing financial risk, as they affect work activities and the well-being of the population. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of financial well-being in the relationship between personal well-being and financial threats. A predictive cross-sectional study was conducted. The variables analyzed were personal well-being, financial threats, and financial well-being. A total of 416 Peruvian adults from the three regions of Peru participated. The mean age was M = 35.36, SD = 8.84, with a range of 19–62 years. To represent the statistical mediation model, a structural equation model (SEM) was used. The analysis showed that the variables were significantly related (p < 0.001). The theoretical model indicated a perfect mediation, also obtaining a good fit, χ2(168) = 394.3, CFI = 0.931, RMSEA = 0.057, SRMR = 0.062. The study showed that personal well-being serves as a basis for promoting financial well-being and this contributes to the reduction of financial threats.
... Questions concerning basic information, socio-demographics and lifestyle factors, and study and job-related information were included in the e-questionnaire, (Mamun et al., 2020). The variables considered in this study were gender (male, female, others), age (less than 22, 22-25, more than 25), place of residence (rural, urban), personality (introvert, extrovert), family size (small, medium, large), relationship status (single, in a relationship, married), institute type (public institute, private institute), involvement in extracurricular activities (no, yes), Job before COVID-19 pandemic (no, yes), income before COVID-19 pandemic (less than 15000, 15000-30000, more than 30000), Job during COVID-19 pandemic (no, yes), income during COVID-19 pandemic (less than 15000, 15000-30000, more than 30000), physical activities before COVID-19 pandemic (No, exercise type, sports type, home activity type), physical activities during COVID-19 pandemic (no, exercise type, sports type, home activity type), mental activities during praying/meditation,problem solving,others), volunteering activities during COVID-19 pandemic (no, yes), study time before COVID-19 pandemic (not regular, less than or equal 2hrs, more than hours), study time during COVID-19 pandemic (not regular, less than or equal 2hrs, more than hours), hangout before COVID-19 pandemic (no, yes), hangout during COVID-19 pandemic (no, yes), Hours spent online (1-2hrs, 2-3hrs, 3-5hrs), Watching news (occasionally, sometimes, often), Types of news sources (social media, electronic media, print media), Ignoring news (no, yes, maybe). ...
... In this study we considered two dimensions (depression & stress) to bring forth our intended result. The level of depression and stress was first categorized into normal, mild, moderate and severe and extremely severe considering the score, (Mamun et al., 2020) and since higher scores reflect the higher level of depression and stress so we converted normal level of depression and stress to no and the rest to the depression and stress levels to yes for simplicity of analysis more precise result. In the original Bangla version, Cronbach's alphas for the depression anxiety and stress subscales were 0.99, 0.96 and 0.96 respectively, (Alim et al., 2015). ...
As coronavirus proliferation and death rates explode across the nation, the globe is on the verge of another health crisis, with daily doses of mental stress and depression among people of all ages. Our study was designed to investigate depression and stress among tertiary level students in Bangladesh during COVID-19 and to explore the influencing factors associated to them. We considered socio-demographics, educational information, financial information, life-style factors, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 etc. Univariate, bi-variate and binary logistic regression analysis was conducted. In our study, 32.6% (n=132) of the respondent were mentally depressed, and 44.9% (n=182) were stressed. Our analysis indicates that students aged more than 25 years, in a relationship, and those who ignored news were more likely to get depressed. Similarly, those who believed to have a hangout effect, ignored news, and spent more than 5 hours online daily were more likely to experience stress. On the other hand, students who are extrovert, participated in extra-curricular activities, did physical activities, meditated/prayed, solved problems, and studied more than 2 hours were less likely to get depressed. Likewise, students who were extrovert participated in physical activities and studied more than 2 hours were less likely to get stressed. We need to address students' mental health issues because of its long-lasting impact on current and future society, and make informed decisions to tackle depression and stress.
... About 45% of suicides is higher than the previous 12-month period (Sakib, 2021). One of the main reasons of suicide among students is depression which is influenced by financial stress (Davis and Mantler, 2004;Mamun et al., 2020a). Moreover, a few of them find no option but to Financial stress impact on student performance decide to drop their study. ...
... After monitoring about 1,140 students for one and half year duration, it was found that several factors like students dissatisfied with university culture, high and excessive recreational screen time, weekly physical inactivity, short and long sleep duration and so on were linked with depression and anxiety. A cross-sectional study found that gender, age, socio-economic conditions, educational background, lack of extra-curricular activities, high screen activity and financial troubles are significantly associated with mental health of young people (Mamun et al., 2020a). ...
Purpose
To identify the financial stress and associate factors of tertiary level student.
Design/methodology/approach
To identify the financial stress and associate factors, a structured questionnaire was developed to collect data from 571 students of different universities of Bangladesh through Google form. Chi square and Cramer's V were applied to find the associated factors with financial stress of students, whereas ordinal regression was performed to evaluate the influence of the associated factors on financial stress.
Findings
Gender, living status, borrowing loan factors have positive association with financial stress. Tuition fee dues have significant positive association with financial stress. A student who has tuition fee dues feels 1.48 times more stress compared to student who does not have dues. Females were found less likely to be financially stressed (AOR = 1.536) than male students. Students who borrowed loans were more likely to have financial stress than non-borrowed loan groups of students.
Practical implications
Results indicate that financial stress has a strong impact on participation in different academic and personal activities of a student. Therefore, parents, university administration and student counselor should consider the factor to assess stress of a student.
Originality/value
This study identified factors responsible for financial stress of Bangladeshi students of tertiary level.
... For instance, a comprehensive scoping review from the United States identified a robust, positive relationship between financial strain and depression, warranting deeper exploration, especially within socioeconomically diverse contexts. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified these stressors globally, amplifying mental health challenges through economic disruption, escalating living costs, unemployment, and prolonged uncertainty, further substantiating the need for extensive study in this area 2,3 . ...
Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to assess the correlation between financial instability and the prevalence of anxiety and depression, examining the mediating roles of social support and perceived stress. The objective was to generate evidence-based insights to inform specialized mental health and socioeconomic interventions designed to mitigate psychological distress arising from financial strain. Methodology: This cross-sectional study included adults from various socioeconomic backgrounds in tertiary care hospitals across Pakistan, selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected via structured interviews and validated self-report questionnaires, including the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for anxiety and depression symptoms. Financial instability was assessed through income-to-needs ratio, employment status, and debt burden, whereas social support and perceived stress were evaluated using standardized scales. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 27.0, employing multivariate logistic regression and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to explore associations after adjusting for demographic variables. Ethical approval was obtained, and informed consent was secured from all participants. Results: Financial instability significantly increased mental health risks, with elevated odds ratios (OR) for low income (OR = 2.31), debt burden (OR = 2.14), and employment insecurity (OR = 2.76). The prevalence of clinically significant anxiety (GAD-7 ≥10) was 28.5%, while depression (PHQ-9 ≥10) was 34.1%. High perceived stress was the strongest predictor of poor mental health outcomes (OR = 4.22, 95% CI: 3.57–5.01), followed by low social support (OR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.54–2.32). Participants reporting both low social support and high perceived stress faced the highest risk (OR = 5.37, 95% CI: 4.62–6.21). Findings highlight the combined detrimental impact of economic and psychosocial factors on mental health. Conclusion: Financial instability is significantly associated with higher rates of anxiety and depression, with social support and perceived stress playing pivotal mediating roles. Addressing economic challenges alongside implementing targeted mental health interventions is essential to alleviate financial distress, mitigate psychological impacts, and enhance overall well-being. Keywords: Financial instability, Anxiety, Depression, Social support, Perceived stress, Cross-sectional study.
... Recognizing this dynamic aspect, targeted mental health strategies are essential to address the distinct challenges faced by these women. 10 Communication barriers further compound the situation, as maintaining meaningful connections across borders proves arduous. The limited frequency and quality of interaction may exacerbate feelings of loneliness and emotional distress. ...
This article finds out the prevalence of anxiety and depression among women whose husbands work abroad and also explores the significance of the consequential impact on their mental health imposed by the situation as compared to those who live with their husbands. Based on a comprehensive analysis of relevant literature and empirical studies, the research sheds light on the implied challenges these women face, considering factors such as separation, communication barriers, and social support. The results showed significant differences between the study and the control groups. The prevalence of anxiety and depression among the study group was 51.2% and 44.1% and the average anxiety and depression score were 19.82 and 21.24 respectively. The combined odds ratio (OR) for anxiety and depression between the study and control groups was 9.87 with a 95% confidence interval of [5.49, 17.86] and a chi-squire test p-value <0.001. The findings are important as they may contribute to a deeper understanding of the mental health implications in this specific demographic, providing valuable insights for healthcare professionals, policymakers, and support networks.
... Participant 2's account of sleep deprivation leading to health issues like anemia illustrates this point. Research has demonstrated that financial struggles are associated with increased stress levels, anxiety and depression [31] The inability to afford nutrition and self-care exacerbates these health challenges creating a cycle of declining mental wellness. ...
Public school teachers in the Philippines play a pivotal role in shaping the nation's future by imparting knowledge and nurturing young minds. However, despite their dedication and commitment, most of them face significant financial hardships, struggling to make ends meet while fulfilling their vital educational responsibilities. Thus, this qualitative phenomenological paper explored the lived experience of financially struggling public-school teachers, gaining an in-depth understanding of their financial realities. The data were gathered from the five (5) participants who were chosen using a purposeful sampling technique and determined using the following inclusion criteria: teachers earning an allowable minimum net pay of five thousand pesos (Php 5,000); engaging in secondary income-generating activities; at least 5 years in the service; and with family dependents. The data were collected utilizing the in-depth, semi-structured interview. Employing a thematic analysis by Moustakas, six (6) major themes emerged that highlighted the financial realities experienced by public junior high school teachers, namely: (1) Financial Struggles and Insufficient Support Systems; (2) The Dual Roles of Educators as Teachers and Earners; (3) The Toll of Financial Stress on Teachers' Well-being and Professional Performance; (4) Debt Trap: The Continuous Cycle of Borrowing and Repayment; (5) Financial Pressures and Sacrifices of Family Obligations; and (6) Boosting Teacher Financial Wellness: Strategies for Stability and Support. Hence, these findings underscore the urgent need for systemic reforms and financial literacy education, offering valuable insights for policymakers to enhance support for educators and improve the quality of education.
... 14 Statistically significant variations have been identified in the relationship between financial threat, economic hardship, depression, and anxiety. 15 Economic crises are associated with increased depressive symptoms. Financial crises tend to have a corrosive impact on mental well-being. ...
Objective: To identify the relationship between financial well-being, demographic variables and mental health problems (depression, anxiety, and stress) and its severity level in psychiatric out and in-patients as a result of COVID-19 and lockdown. Results: A total of 261 study cases included in this study, with mean age of 27.86+8.94. Financial status of 63.6% patients were low. The prevalence of mental health issues, with 230 (88.12%) reporting depression, 225 (86.21%) anxiety, and 196 (75.10%) stress. A significant difference was found between lower financial status with depression (OR = 4.0, p < 0.001) and stress (OR = 8.0, p < 0.001), whereas there was no statistically significant association was found between anxiety and lower financial status (OR = 2.0, p = 0.068). There was a positive association observed between gender and anxiety (p = 0.028). Conclusion: Findings highlight the significant effects that COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown measures had on people's mental and financial health. People with lower financial status had four times higher likelihood of experiencing depression, anxiety two times higher and stress eight times higher in individuals and gender differences were observed in anxiety and stress. Results underscore the interdependence of these two domains and the necessity of focused efforts to deal with the challenges the pandemic has brought forth.
... When asked what's most important to young individuals in terms of their health and wellbeing, 72% of Gen Z said managing stress and their mental health was their top health and wellbeing priority (Mamun et al., 2020). However, only 45% said their mental health was "good." ...
Appropriately managing finance and the economy is not an easy task. Especially, the young people are very concerned about that. Mental accounting biases always drive them on the wrong path where they make inefficient financial decisions. In the future, this kind of bad decision therefore leads to financial stress. The researchers have focused on this area and tried to show how mental accounting influences the economic well-being of young people. More or less, in the behavioural finance sector, everyone has considered mental accounting as a detrimental factor. However, the researchers have shown whether there is any connection between mental accounting and financial well-being and how mental accounting biases can be controlled or used positively. Moreover, the readers would be able to get a proper overview of mental accounting, its different examples, as well as financial well-being.
... They also established the currency of anxiety (20.7%), depression (26.5%), and insomnia (44.2%) indications among HCW. Moreover, a past report likewise showed a remarkable relationship between monetary difficulty and emotional well-being among Bangladeshi specialists (51). Besides, any weaknesses of cross-sectional investigations were avoided for this analysis and proposed an enormous model augmentation examination to relate the psychological well-being of cutting-edge HCW (52). ...
Analyze and finding the most used AI applications or methods in the
Mental Health sector and suggesting appropriate directions for advanced research
is the primary objective of this research. With this purpose, the author selects
papers reviewing to analyze thirty-one articles. The researcher found the most
used neuroimaging and recognizing technologies in real life for checking brain
abnormalities. Besides, they found chatbot as the most used AI assistant in digital
care. As the ultimate goal of this study to observe the mental health of Bangladeshi
youths, the researcher has surveyed 19-29 years people and mainly generate
questions for the general people for mental disorders like as- Anxiety, Depression,
and PTSD. The author used python for analysis dataset, finding correlations, and
applied machine learning classification algorithms (e.g., decision tree, support
vector machine (SVM), random forest) for best accuracy. This research also
included future research directions and also identified existing knowledge gaps.
... Rafi et al., (2019) state that the Bangladeshi university graduates face various types of mental issues including depression, anxiety and stress in the period of job preparation. Mamun et al. (2020) identified financial troubles as the primary cause responsible for mental problems during unemployment. This condition became more vulnerable due to the recent covid-19 pandemic (Ela et al., 2021). ...
Though unemployment is directly associated with individuals' health and lifestyle, the nature of the relationship and intensity for specific groups in different socioeconomic conditions is not universal. The study addresses the unemployed university graduates of Bangladesh to understand the relationship of unemployment and mental health. The study aims to assess the effect of unemployment on mental health of unemployed university graduates of Bangladesh. The effect is examined on 385 unemployed graduates. Data were collected through online survey using a semi-structured questionnaire that included the 12-item General Healthcare Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Data were collected using a four-point un-weighted Likert scale. Later on, the data were coded using adjusted Caseness scale to avoid the constraints of marginal values, and to address chronic distress of the respondents. The study observes the presence of a moderate to high degree of mental illness due to unemployment. The respondents were primarily unemployed due to failure of getting a destined job despite their attempt. The independents variables-age, unemployed time, and time between employment and graduation-have significant impacts on mental illness of the respondents. However, sex and mental health remain inconclusive in this study. Mental distress is observed in three latent factors-psychological disorder, social and emotional dysfunction and cognitive disorder-among the respondents. Age, duration of unemployment, and time elapsed after graduation have positive effects on mental illness.
... 39 Previous studies have linked financial hardship, unemployment, and depressive symptoms. 40 Our results indicate that higher rates of depressive symptoms were shown in those with perceived financial trouble as well as those receiving disability benefits compared to those who are employed full time. The close relationship between financial status and employment status suggests a comprehensive approach to these two personal factors. ...
Introduction
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with a range of co-morbid physical and psychological conditions, including depression. Yet there is a dearth of evidence regarding the prevalence of depression among those in Appalachia living with T2DM; this gap persists despite the higher regional prevalence of T2DM and challenging social determinants of health.
Purpose
This study aimed to provide greater detail about the relationships between T2DM and depressive symptoms in adults living in Appalachia Kentucky.
Methods
The present study was a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data derived from an ongoing study of Appalachia Kentucky adults living with T2DM. Outcome data included demographics, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, point-of-care HbA1c, and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities. Bivariate analysis was conducted using Pearson’s correlation to determine the statistically significant relationships between variables which were then included in a multiple regression model.
Results
The sample (N=365), consisted primarily of women (n=230, 64.6%) of mean age 64 years (±10.6); almost all (98%) were non-Hispanic White (n=349), and most were married (n=208, 59.1%). The majority (47.2%) reported having two comorbid conditions (n=161), including T2DM, and the mean HbA1c was 7.7% (1.7). Nearly 90% were nonsmokers (n=319). Depressive symptoms were reported in 25% (n=90) of participants. A higher number of comorbid conditions, increased age, Medicaid insurance, tobacco use, lower financial status, female sex, and disability compared to fully employed status all were correlated with a higher rate of depressive symptoms (r ≤ 0.2). The regression indicated that depressive symptoms were associated with age (β = −0.010, p = 0.001); full-time employment status compared to those who are disabled (β = −.0209, p = 0.18); men compared to women (β = −0.122, p = 0.042), and those who smoke compared to nonsmokers (β = 0.175, p = 0.038).
Implications
Depressive symptoms were correlated with T2DM among this sample of Appalachian residents with poorly controlled T2DM, especially among women. Given the vast number of social determinants (e.g., poverty, food insecurity, and rurality) affecting this population, healthcare providers must assess for depression and consider its negative influence on the patient’s ability to achieve glycemic control.
... The present study found that suicide ideation was associated with those suffering from higher depression levels than those who did not [68]. Depression and selfesteem are among the most significant factors associated with suicide ideation [69]. ...
Today, suicide is a significant, urgent and serious issue in public health. Studies on suicide ideation in Malaysian young adults were rarely conducted for the public due to cultural and religious factors. Numerous studies on depression and suicide among young people in Malaysia have often been conducted in developed and high-population densities such as Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, and Sarawak. In contrast, states on the East Coast of Malaysia recorded fewer studies on suicide and depression by researchers. Thus, this study investigates the relationships and predictive effects of depression and self-esteem on suicide ideation among undergraduate students. Data were gathered from a sample of 439 (18.5% male; 81.5% female) undergraduate students aged 19-26 with an average age of 22 (SD=1.33) who completed measures on depression, self-esteem, suicide ideation and socio-demographic profiles. In addition to descriptive statistics, quantitative data employed correlation and regression analysis using SPSS software. The results found a significant relationship between depression, self-esteem, and suicide ideation. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that depression and self-esteem were predictive factors of suicide ideation among students. This study contributes to the corpus of literature on the predictor factors for suicide ideation in the context of Malaysian students. Furthermore, the current study's findings offer a better understanding of how relevant parties should be aware of the importance of mental health promotion and help-seeking behaviour, especially in the educational setting.
... The economic impact of a population experiencing mental anguish, coupled with increasing rates of drug addiction, eventually leads to a reduction in labour efficiency and production. The aforementioned tendency has significant economic implications, perhaps resulting in a decline in GDP growth and an increase in unemployment rates (11). ...
Overview: There is a complex connection between the deteriorating mental health, rising rates of illicit drug use, increasing consumption of tobacco products, and escalating propensity for suicide behaviour within the dynamic socio-health contexts of Bangladesh. The aforementioned events, characterized by rapid sociocultural transformations, increased urbanization, and significant economic strains, combined indicate a worrisome trajectory for the field of public health in the country. It is crucial to have a sophisticated understanding of these interconnected difficulties in order to develop effective treatments. This comprehensive analysis thoroughly examines the many aspects of the interrelated health problems, emphasizing the crucial need for integrated and culturally sensitive approaches to guide Bangladesh towards a healthier future.
... 3 When parents face unemployment, the sudden loss of income, mounting debts and uncertainty about the future can lead to overwhelming stress and anxiety. 6 As they grapple with the pressure to support their family, feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness may set in, exacerbating psychological distress. The mental health implications of financial toxicity are far-reaching and can manifest as depression, anxiety disorders and a decreased overall quality of life. ...
Dear Editors,
In a recent paper, Dalmacito Cordero discuss about the effects of parental unemployment on children’s mental health,¹ which is a correspondence from my previous article entitled ‘Parental unemployment: a ticking time bomb for children’s adverse childhood experiences’.² The two articles discuss mental health issues that come out primarily because of families financial difficulties, which is also related to JPH’s latest article regarding the issue of financial toxicity.³ Financial toxicity is closely linked to psychological distress.⁴,⁵ The profound impact of financial toxicity and psychological distress resulting from parental unemployment should be considered a serious public health concern.
Financial toxicity refers to the adverse effects of financial burden and the subjective financial distress.³ When parents face unemployment, the sudden loss of income, mounting debts and uncertainty about the future can lead to overwhelming stress and anxiety.⁶ As they grapple with the pressure to support their family, feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness may set in, exacerbating psychological distress. The mental health implications of financial toxicity are far-reaching and can manifest as depression, anxiety disorders and a decreased overall quality of life.7–9
... Negative effects could be even worse by low socioeconomic status 20 . Poor socioeconomic circumstances limited people's ability to study at home and obtain mental health care, widening already-existing social and academic disparities [21][22][23] . ...
Background: The increase in mental health problems in the community needs to have more attention in research. The purpose of this research was to analyze the factors related to mental health disorders in RSUD Banyumas Methods: This research was analytic research using a case-control approach. The case population in this research was mental disorders inpatients of RSUD Banyumas on June 2018 – May 2019 while the control population was the neighbors of the cases. The samples were 100 respondents (50 cases using consecutive sampling and 50 controls using accidental sampling). The research instruments were a structured questionnaire and a Personal Style Inventory questionnaire. The data were analyzed by univariate, bivariate, and multivariate Results: The variables related to mental health disorders were educational status (0,032), economic status (0,020), bereavement (0,00), and personality type (0,00). The most caused variable was personality type. The variables that did not relate to mental health disorders were work status Conclusions: The most influential was personality type and the other variables that caused mental disorder are educational status, economic status, and bereavement. Keywords: Mental Disorder, Personality Type, Bereavement, Inpatient
... With a huge population, Bangladesh is advancing as fast-developing country (Farid and Mostari, 2022), (Karim et al., 2022), the total population is around 16.50 crore (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics). Employment and creating employment opportunities are the biggest challenges for this huge population (Mamun et al., 2020), (Siddiqui, 2019). The university graduates' negative perception towards social entrepreneurship, as made the employment status very narrow (Tu et al., 2021), so, it could be a good solution for unemployment, if they occupy themselves in the RMG sector. ...
Being the largest industrial sector in Bangladesh, the readymade garments sector has been contributing to the national economy through the wide employment scopes. Despite of that a huge employment opportunity is getting out of our hands due to the deficiencies in required skills in the key positions in this sector. This opportunity is grabbed by our neighbouring countries. The relevant literature is very poor and week in describing the required skills for the crucial positions in the RMG sector. However, based on a recent study, a list of 5 key positions in the RMG sector has been used here for identifying the skills requirements. Through qualitative research, adapting focus group discussion, this paper revealed a skills matrix for the critical positions in the Bangladeshi readymade garments. the paper identified both the soft skills and hard skills required for the best performance.
... Bangladesh is a highly populated country (Farid and Mostari, 2022), (Karim et al., 2022) with an estimated total population of 16.50 crore (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics). Beside the burden of this huge population, the crucial challenge is employment (Mamun et al., 2020), (Siddiqui, 2019). This situation became worse as the graduates hold negative attitudes toward social entrepreneurship (Tu et al., 2021), but it could be a good solution for unemployment, if they occupy themselves in the RMG sector. ...
Despite of poverty, high population and resource limitations, Bangladesh has been running with an emerging economy. In this economic advancement, the role of readymade garments (RMG) is significant. Not through the export, the sector assisting by employing over 4 million people. The RMG is the largest industrial sector of Bangladesh. Unfortunately, the foreign nationals are working in the middle level, even often at the top. They are leading the sector. The lack of focus on the key positions in the RMG sector is the vital reason behind the unemployment of Bangladeshi nationals. The paper aims at discovering the key positions in the readymade garments sector of Bangladesh. Such exploration will make the Bangladeshi people to understand where and how they can contribute. Hence, the employment rate in the sector will be increasing.
... The gender based inequalities and lack of education are linked with each other. Due to the lack of education among girls unemployment increases and consequently it increases illegal activities among women [11]. Countries with educated people are stranger than other countries, and more developed and more sustainable economies. ...
Gender discrimination is when someone is treated disadvantageously and unequally based on their gender. Discrimination based on gender is an absolute violation of human rights that affects society negatively. On this note, gender biasness obstructs girls' education and also arise different problems in the global and societal context. The aim of the study is to find out the implications of gender biases in girls' education. Different social barriers and norms play a significant role in increasing gender-based discrimination in society. This study will also focus on the different forms and factors of discrimination and identify different strategies to overcome the issue. The main objective of the study is thus understanding gender based discrimination and how it affects girls in their education. Different implications of gender based discrimination and also suggests different strategies to overcome the issue. Gender based discrimination is an extreme form of human right violation that affects society along with the all-round development of the country. In order to conduct this study, secondary qualitative data has been collected in order to have proper inisght regarding this topic. It has been identified that gender based discrimination in education is harmful to society as it obstructs the overall development of girls and women, hence, it is required to be mitigated to improve the situation of girls and women in society. Keyword : Biasness, Education, Gender Discrimination, Society.
... En el presente estudio se encontró que el 16,2% de los participantes habían tenido crisis financieras recientes, mientras que en el estudio poblacional de Sabaneta esta prevalencia fue de 12,4% (14) y en el estudio poblacional de Medellín fue de 17,6% (6) . Estudios muestran que la amenaza financiera está directamente relacionada con la depresión (24) . González igualmente describe en su estudio que el alto estrés financiero se asocia con una mayor prevalencia de depresión en ambos sexos (25) . ...
Introducción:
Los trastornos emocionales y del comportamiento que se inician en la infancia llevan a cambios que se extienden hasta la edad adulta, con consecuencias sociales.
Objetivo:
Determinar la asociación de la depresión en la adultez con trastornos mentales de inicio en la infancia y otras condiciones, en Envigado, 2017.
Materiales y métodos:
Estudio con enfoque cuantitativo, tipo observacional, transversal con intención analítica. El tamaño de la muestra fue de 737 individuos, entre 18 y 65 años. Se aplicó el instrumento CIDI - CAPI de la OMS. El procesamiento y análisis se llevó a cabo en SPSS v. 21 de la Universidad CES y Epidat 4.2.
Resultados:
La proporción de depresión en la adultez es de 10,8%, en la población de estudio que tuvo antecedente de trastorno por déficit de atención e hiperactividad (TDAH) fue aproximadamente 5,6 veces más que en aquellos que no tenían este antecedente (OR= 6,62; IC95% 1,92-22,7).
Conclusiones:
El TDAH en la infancia incrementa la probabilidad de presentar depresión en la adultez en la población de Envigado, lo cual soporta la importancia de promover acciones de salud mental en la niñez, para prevenir la depresión en la edad adulta.
... While a developing country like Nigeria, is still struggling with high rates of poverty, lack of adequate healthcare personnel and infrastructures, poor emergency and disaster response, poor governance, high rates of population growth, mortality, and fertility rates (Otitoloju et al., 2020); living situations in some communities worsens and invariably reduces the effectiveness of recommended safety measures needed to battle the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Globally, vulnerable people living in urban informal settlements generally referred to as 'slums' or 'squatter settlements' or 'urban villages' already suffer from numerous and never-ending existing vulnerabilities and are areas of concentrated disadvantage; housing poor people and worst buildings (Vlahov et al., 2007;Mamun et al., 2020;Mishra et al., 2020). ...
The emergence of the unique coronavirus disease (COVID-19), associated safety measures and impacts have been experienced differently across various sociodemographic and livelihood groups. As a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 restrictions, this study examined experiences and livelihood uncertainties from socially vulnerable groups. One hundred and fifty responses (150) were recorded from residents in Iwaya, and Makoko areas within Lagos Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos state. Complete lockdown or stay-at-home orders, compulsory face masks in public spaces, curfews, physical and social distancing and restriction of inter-state movements are some of the precautionary/safety measures introduced by the Government and enforced by security agents. The findings show that curfews and restriction of inter-state movements were two of the safety measures that had no or reduced impact (p-values > 0.01) on the respondents’ means of livelihood. Our results reveal that because a larger percentage of male participants are self-employed and owned personal businesses they were more affected by COVID-19 restrictions than females. 42.7% (64) of females and 57.3% (86) of males reported COVID-19-related anxieties and stress from fear of starvation, and contracting the virus, to impacts on money/finances, slow sales and businesses, food supply, job loss, erratic power supply affecting work from home options. 54.7% of respondents had more than 5 people living together, while 84.7% of housing types (128) are bungalows with several rooms inhabited by an average of three to four people per household. Increased stress, fear of hunger, loss of jobs and source of income were some of the negative impacts resulting from the introduction of the COVID-19 safety measures which adversely affected occupations like traders, people engaged in fishing activities, painters, carpenters, hairdressers and barbers, printers and bricklayers. Our work provides insights into the effects of the COVID-19-safety measures and subjective impact across vulnerable groups and occupations.
... 3 Figure 1: Bangladesh Youth Unemployment Rate 1991-2023 [2] 1. Background of the Study • Graduated job seekers are facing various mental health issues, a study found that among 988 Bangladeshi graduate jobseekers in six major cities are facing following mental health issues: Depression 81.1% (n = 801),, anxiety 61.5% (n = 608) and stress 64.8% (n = 640) [4]. • Study assumes that soft skills development in international standard and proper guidance can reduce our educated youth unemployment. ...
... Esto concuerda con la literatura, la cual indica que los adultos desempleados experimentan diversos problemas de salud mental, entre ellos la ansiedad. (23) Esto es debido a las responsabilidades económicas, familiares y sociales que deben de afrontar, por lo que es lógico que este grupo esté más fuertemente conectado a nivel de síntomas a comparación de los adultos con estabilidad laboral. ...
Introducción:
La comorbilidad entre los síntomas de ansiedad e insomnio es frecuente y a menudo se entiende porque los síntomas comparten una causa común. La teoría de redes conceptualiza las alteraciones emocionales a nivel de síntomas y es una alternativa contemporánea para comprender la comorbilidad psicopatológica.
Objetivo:
Explorar la comorbilidad entre los síntomas de ansiedad e insomnio en adultos peruanos.
Métodos:
La muestra estuvo conformada por 567 adultos (75,1 % mujeres) que respondieron autoinformes de ansiedad e insomnio. Se estimó una red gráfica gaussiana con medidas de centralidad, predictibilidad, estabilidad, precisión y comparación. Para identificar los síntomas que impulsaban la comorbilidad, se analizaron los síntomas puente en la estructura de red.
Resultados:
Todas las conexiones en la red fueron positivas. Se identificó que los problemas para relajarse y la calidad general del sueño eran los síntomas puente entre la ansiedad y el insomnio. Las puntuaciones más altas en centralidad y predictibilidad para la ansiedad fueron los problemas para relajarse y preocupación, mientas que para el insomnio fue la calidad general del sueño y su duración. La red fue robusta y estable (CS = 0,672).
Conclusiones:
Los problemas para relajarse y la calidad general del sueño se identificaron como síntomas puente entre la ansiedad y el insomnio. Se necesitan más investigaciones para comprobar si la intervención en aquellos síntomas podría disminuir la comorbilidad entre ambos problemas.
... Bangladesh is a highly populated country (Farid and Mostari, 2022), (Karim et al., 2022) with an estimated total population of 16.50 crore (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics). Beside the burden of this huge population, the crucial challenge is employment (Mamun et al., 2020), (Siddiqui, 2019). This situation became worse as the graduates hold negative attitudes toward social entrepreneurship (Tu et al., 2021), but it could be a good solution for unemployment. ...
Identifying the skills that are required for successful performance of the key positions in the RMG sector of Bangladesh. The study proposes a qualitative research through multiple focus group discussions.
... Online office at home is more widespread (Cuerdo-Vilches et al., 2021), which will limit the operation of a range of business, and even incur the closure of business (Torres et al., 2021), posing an economic threat. What is worse, economic threats can cause greater individual anxiety (Mamun et al., 2020). For EFs, working online may lead to higher financial costs, financial hardship and anxiety due to limited resources and funds. ...
The entrepreneurial firms may be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the entrepreneurs of entrepreneurial firms are also threatened by the revenues decline and business failure, which vehemently affect their well-being. The mental health of the entrepreneur decides whether the entrepreneurial firms can make the right decision, which is related to the healthy development of the entrepreneurial firms. Based on the event system theory and the cognitive appraisal theory, this paper aims to explore the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the entrepreneur anxiety, and the threat perception and performance pressure are introduced to investigate the mediating mechanism and boundary of this effect. Using the simple random sampling to obtain questionnaire survey data, 168 entrepreneurs of entrepreneurial firms have participated in the empirical study, and the research results are as follows. First, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly positively affects entrepreneur anxiety. Second, the entrepreneur threat perception plays a mediating role between the COVID-19 pandemic and the entrepreneur anxiety, which means the COVID-19 pandemic can enhance the external threat perception of entrepreneurs, and then affect the entrepreneur anxiety. Third, the positive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entrepreneur anxiety is strengthened by the entrepreneur performance pressure, while the positive effect of entrepreneur threat perception on entrepreneur anxiety is weakened by the entrepreneur performance pressure. The above findings are helpful to explore the mechanism of the COVID-19 pandemic and other critical crisis events on entrepreneurs’ mental health from the new perspective of cognitive appraisal theory and event system theory, filling the research gaps between the COVID-19 pandemic and entrepreneur anxiety. Besides, this study broadens the applied range of the cognitive appraisal theory and the event system theory in the fields of crisis situations and entrepreneur research, and enriches the research outputs. Furthermore, this study will help provide a new theoretical analysis insight for the related research on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects entrepreneurs’ psychology, and further deepen researchers to understand the mechanism of entrepreneur anxiety under the COVID-19 pandemic, providing theoretical inspirations for reducing entrepreneur anxiety. What’s more, this study finds that individual pressure can affect their cognitive appraisal, which means that future research should take the pressure influential mechanism into consideration in the process of exploring “external stimulus--cognitive appraisal--emotional response,” further expanding the theoretical model of cognitive appraisal proposed from the perspective of pressure.
The aim of the research is to investigate the problems young people face in Turkey and to examine the religious coping mechanisms they use to cope with these problems. A total of 353 students from Turkey participated, including 190 high school and 163 university students. The research, conducted in April 2024, employed two different methods for data collection: Written data were gathered directly from high school students through interviews, while questionnaires were distributed to university students and collected by the researcher. We used semi-structured interviews based on a specific framework, asking participants three comprehensive, open-ended questions. After conducting a content analysis on the data, the researcher categorized the data thematically according to the content. According to the findings of the research based on the available data, the problems faced by young people are classified under three main headings: individual, social and existential issues. Individual problems included gender roles, sexuality, religious doubts, stress, addiction, and loneliness. Social problems consist of local and popular culture, violence, concerns about the future, difficulties in finding a profession, the education process, marriage, and family communication. Existential problems include such issues as the meaning of life, death, and belief in God. The study revealed that young people often resort to religious coping strategies to handle these challenges. Among these strategies, such practices as trusting and believing in Allah, prayer (salat) and supplication (dua), expressing gratitude, repentance, ablution, going to the mosque, reading the Qur'an, participating in religious conversations and volunteering services become prominent. As a result, it was determined that religious coping strategies are an important part of the daily lives of young people in Turkey and that these strategies play an important role in coping with individual, social, and existential challenges. Unlike studies that generally address psychological or social elements, this research highlights the role of religious practices as a coping mechanism. Araştırmanın amacı Türkiye'deki genç bireylerin karşılaştıkları sorunları araştırmak ve bu sorunlarla başa çıkmak için kullandıkları dini başa çıkma mekanizmalarını incelemektir. Türkiye'den 190 lise ve 163 üniversite öğrencisi olmak üzere toplam 353 öğrenci katılmıştır. Nisan 2024'te gerçekleştirilen çalışmada, veriler iki farklı yöntemle toplanmıştır: Lise öğrencilerinden doğrudan görüşme yoluyla yazılı veriler alınırken, üniversite öğrencilerine anket formu dağıtılmış ve bu formlar araştırmacı tarafından toplanmıştır. Araştırmada, belirli bir çerçeveye dayalı esnek görüşmeler kullanılmış olup, katılımcılara üç kapsamlı ve açık uçlu soru sorulmuştur. İçerik analizi yöntemiyle veriler incelendikten sonra, araştırmacı tarafından içeriğe göre temalara ayrılmıştır. Eldeki verilerden hareketle araştırmanın bulgularına göre gençlerin karşılaştığı sorunlar üç ana başlık altında sınıflandırılmıştır: bireysel, toplumsal ve varoluşsal problemler. Bireysel sorunlar; cinsiyet rolleri, cinsellik, dini şüpheler, stres, bağımlılık ve yalnızlık şeklindedir. Toplumsal sorunlar; yerel ve popüler kültür, şiddet, gelecek kaygısı, iş bulma zorlukları, eğitim süreci, evlilik ve aile içi iletişimden oluşmaktadır. Varoluşsal sorunlar ise yaşamın anlamı, ölüm ve Tanrı inancı gibi konuları içermektedir. Araştırma gençlerin bu sorunlarla başa çıkmada, dini başa çıkma stratejilerine başvurduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Bu stratejiler arasında Allah’a güvenmek ve inanmak, namaz ve dua, şükür, tövbe, abdest, camiye gitmek, Kur'an okumak, dini sohbetlere ve gönüllülük hizmetlerine katılmak gibi uygulamalar öne çıkmaktadır. Sonuç olarak dini başa çıkma stratejilerinin Türkiye'deki gençlerin günlük yaşamlarının önemli bir parçası olduğu ve bu stratejilerin bireysel, toplumsal ve varoluşsal zorluklarla mücadelede önemli bir rol oynadığı tespit edilmiştir. Bu araştırma, genellikle psikolojik veya sosyal unsurları ele alan çalışmalardan farklı olarak dini uygulamaların bir başa çıkma mekanizması olarak üstlendiği rolü ön plana çıkarmaktadır.
The research aims to investigate the problems faced by young people in Turkey and the religious coping mechanisms they use to cope with these problems. A total of 403 students from Turkey participated, including 190 high school and 213 university students. The research, conducted in April 2024, employed two different methods for data collection: written data was gathered directly from high school students through interviews, while questionnaires were distributed to university students and collected by the researcher. We used semi-structured interviews based on a specific framework, asking participants three broad and open-ended questions. After conducting a content analysis on the data, the researcher categorized the data thematically. Based on the available data, the findings of the research classified the problems faced by young people into three main categories: individual, social, and existential issues. Individual problems included gender roles, sexuality, religious doubts, stress, addiction, and loneliness. Social problems consisted of local and popular culture, violence, concerns about the future, difficulties in finding employment, the education process, marriage, and family communication. Existential issues included the meaning of life, death, and belief in God. The study revealed that young people often resort to religious coping strategies to handle these challenges. These strategies include praying (salat), supplication (dua), expressing gratitude, repentance, performing ablution, attending mosques, reading the Qur'an, participating in religious talks, and engaging in volunteer services. As a result, it has been determined that religious coping strategies are an important part of the daily lives of young people in Turkey and that these strategies play an important role in coping with individual, social, and existential challenges.
Özet
Bu çalışmanın amacı spor bilimleri fakültesinde öğrenimlerine devam eden öğrencilerin iş bulma kaygı düzeylerini çeşitli değişkenlere göre incelemektedir. Çalışmanın evrenini Kütahya Dumlupınar Üniversitesi'nde öğrenimlerine devam eden öğrenciler oluşturmaktadır. Örneklem grubunu ise 2023-2024 eğitim öğretim yılında yine aynı üniversitenin spor bilimleri fakültesinde öğrenimlerine devam öğrenciler oluşturmaktadır. Örnekleme grubu basit rastlantısal örnekleme yöntemi ile belirlenmiştir. Ölçme aracı olarak Demir (2016) tarafından geliştirilen "İş Bulma Kaygısı Ölçeği" kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen veriler normallik varsayımlarını sağladıktan sonra bağımsız örneklem testi (T-testi), tek yönlü varyans analizi (One-Way ANOVA), korelasyon (Pearson) ve Post Hoc testlerinden Tukey testi uygulanmıştır. Bulgular p<.05 anlamlılık değerine göre değerlendirilmiştir. İş bulma kaygı düzeyleri cinsiyet, yaş, bölüm, sınıf ve spor (branş) değişkenlerine göre farklılık göstermektedir. Bu sonuçlar doğrultusunda devlet politikası olarak gençlere girişimcilik eğitimlerinin verilmesi, yeni istihdam alanlarının oluşturulması ve öğrencilerin uzmanlık alanlarına ek olarak yeni beceriler kazandırılması önerilmektedir.
Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine the anxiety levels of students continuing their education in sport sciences faculty according to various variables. The population of the study consists of students continuing their education at Kütahya Dumlupınar University. The sample group consists of students who continue their education in the faculty of sport sciences of the same university in the 2023-2024 academic year. The sampling group was determined by simple random sampling method. The "Job Finding Anxiety Scale" developed by Demir (2016) was used as a measurement tool. After the data obtained met the normality assumptions, independent sample test (T-test), one-way analysis of variance (One-Way ANOVA), correlation (Pearson) and Tukey test from Post Hoc tests were applied. The findings were evaluated according to p<.05 significance value. The levels of anxiety about finding a job differed according to gender, age, department, grade and sport (branch) variables. In line with these results, it is recommended that entrepreneurship trainings should be given to young people as a state policy, the state should create new employment areas and students should gain new skills in addition to their specialization areas.
Unemployment is widely recognized to cause a variety of psychosocial problems that might have a harmful impact on mental health. The study looks into the psychological well‐being of youth and their personal experiences with the unemployment. This article draws on primary sources to provide an in‐depth understanding of the effects unemployment among youth in Anantnag, Kashmir. The primary data include narratives, which are a qualitative approach that specifically emphasizes the stories of those who were unemployed. To collect the data, a demographic form and an interview guide were used. An unstructured interview schedule was employed with 25 youths with ages ranging from 21 to 32 years. Data were collected from July to August 2023. Participants were selected using the snowball sampling method. All of the participants were from Anantnag, the district in Jammu and Kashmir. As per the findings of the study, unemployment causes youth to feel worthless, lose self‐identity, feel shame, and experience stress. Given the possible detrimental effects of youth unemployment, efforts should be made to increase psychological support for unemployed youth to address mental health issues.
Purpose: The goal of this study is to present the results for job seekers who have graduated from public universities.
Unemployment is one of the major issues in modern times. High unemployment rates affect a country's economic growth, mental wellbeing of an individual and his/her family members, and create unrest in society. Vocational training is one of the most crucial elements in the competitive and developing world. Through the provision of real-world experience, vocational training aids in developing skills. This study aims to highlight the aspirations of the people of Sikkim concerning vocational training and find its challenges and hindrances. With the help of a structured questionnaire, responses were taken from the youth of Sikkim, India and their perception about opting for different vocational training courses were taken. Upon analyzing the data, it was found that males are more inclined towards cooking and baking classes, repair of mobiles, laptops and other electronic accessories, and repair of bikes and automobiles. Females, on the other hand, wanted to focus on makeup and beautician courses, jewelry design, floriculture, and towards repair of mobile and computers.
Parental unemployment poses a significant threat to the well-being and development of children, acting as a ticking time bomb that can trigger adverse childhood experiences. To defuse this time bomb, comprehensive support systems must be in place, including financial assistance, emotional support, educational resources and social integration programmes.
The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the financial risk tolerance of personnel in the various security services in Ghana (i.e., people who serve in the various public security divisions, including the military, immigration, police, customs, firefighting, and prisons). In particular, we examine the predictors and outcomes of financial risk tolerance and further assess whether financial risk tolerance mediates the relationship between the predictor variables and financial behavior. A partial least square structural equation modeling analysis of data collected from a cross-section of security service personnel revealed that financial threat, trust, and deliberative thinking significantly influence financial risk tolerance. We also found that financial risk tolerance is a strong predictor of financial behavior. In addition, financial risk tolerance mediates the relationship between financial threat and trust and financial behavior. The findings in this study are relevant to the leaders of the security services in developing strategies to ensure the financial security of the personnel.
Individuals who experience stress due to financial hardship have needs relating to the socio-financial crisis, with repetitive negative events, changes to beliefs, attitudes, and negative reactions toward social life. When there is a crisis, a parasitic self seems to emerge and leads to anger outbursts and social aggression, produces disorder in human relations and institutions and is organized with one-way relations that lack equal reciprocity for mutual benefit, where one exploits the other.
Background
Non-clinical hospital staff were rarely studied despite their potential exposure to workplace stressors. We aimed to measure the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress (emotional distress symptoms) and determine their association with perceived job stress level and socioeconomic factors among non-clinical hospital staff.
Methods
This cross-sectional study was conducted in Ain-Shams University Hospitals from March to May 2019. Tools were the Arabic Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21, Workplace Stress Scale, and Socioeconomic status scale. Independent correlates were determined using multivariable ordinal regression.
Results
Out of 462 participants, 72.5% reported receiving insufficient income and 54.8% showed Effort-reward imbalance. Job stress was scored as severe/potentially dangerous by 30.1%. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress were 67.5, 69.0, and 51.7%; and the severe/extremely severe levels were 20.8, 34.6, and 17.6% respectively. Across all the severity levels, the likelihood of depression, anxiety, and stress were progressively higher with more serious levels of income insufficiency [in debt versus able to save, OR:5.82 (95%CI:2.35–14.43), OR:3.84 (95%CI:1.66–8.91), and OR:3.01 (95%CI:1.20–7.55) respectively] and with higher job stress levels. Specifically, the likelihood of depression, anxiety, and stress increased by 74, 56, and 53% respectively with feelings of unpleasant/unsafe work conditions and by 64, 38, and 62% respectively with the presence of work-life conflict; while the likelihood of depression and stress increased by 32 and 33% respectively when there was difficult communication with superiors; and only the likelihood of depression increased by 23% with underutilization of skills.
Conclusion
Non-clinical hospital staff were commonly affected by emotional distress symptoms with high rates of severe/very severe levels, and they often considered their workplace stress as severe/potentially dangerous. Workplace stress and income insufficiency were strong correlates with emotional distress symptoms. Decreasing work-life conflict, enhancing leadership skills, and mitigation of the economic hardship are needed.
Background
A "suicide pact" is a joint and actively induced death of two individuals with the essential and unavoidable characteristic of a mutual consent. One of the partners (dominant in the relationship, commonly male) usually induces the action and in most cases, it is the one who actively carries it out. Undiagnosed psychopathological dimension or pathological subthreshold traits are found in those who enter into suicide agreements, the presence of cluster B personality traits such as narcissistic or borderline is of particular relevance in the dominant partner, while in the submissive one dependent personality traits are more frequent. As in the case of other similar health emergencies, COVID-19 pandemic seems to lead to greater suicidality, including the "suicide pacts" of couples whose motivation varies including firstly financial problems, strictly followed by fear of infection and not being able to return home from abroad.
Case presentation
We reported a case of a couple who entered a suicide agreement consequently to the economic difficulties caused by COVID-19 pandemic, hospitalized in our department. Both partners were assessed with Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum) and both crossed the threshold for clinically relevant autistic traits (M = 67; F = 49).
Conclusion
This case further confirms the link between COVID-19 pandemics and suicidality. The role of autism spectrum traits as a vulnerability factor towards the development of severe psychopathological consequences after traumatic events is also stressed.
Background
Family functioning is associated with anxiety and depression. Perinatal depression and anxiety are common and influence the well-being of women, partners and their offspring. However, little is known about differences in associations between family functioning and mood symptoms in women and their partners in early pregnancy.
Aims
Investigating differences in associations between family functioning and anxious and depressive symptoms in women and their partners in early pregnancy.
Method
In total, 171 woman–partner pairs were enrolled. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item scale (GAD-7) and Family Assessment Device (FAD) were performed. Correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were applied to investigate the associations.
Results
In pregnant women, all the subscale scores on the FAD were correlated with total scores on the EPDS and GAD-7 (all P < 0.05), whereas only the Roles subscale showed a predicting effect in regression models ( P < 0.01). In partners, all the subscale scores on the FAD were related to total scores on the PHQ-9 (all P < 0.05), whereas only the Problem Solving subscale showed a predicting effect ( P = 0.029).
Conclusions
Our findings indicate that family functioning in the domain of roles is associated with anxious and depressive symptoms in pregnant women and functioning in the domain of problem solving is associated with depressive symptoms in partners. Clinicians should pay special attention to roles and problem solving when assessing mood symptoms in pregnant women and their partners. This study also provides a basis for family health education in early pregnancy.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Go-Jek drivers have experienced economic difficulties due to a decline in online orders from consumers. This decline and the fear of contracting the virus have prompted Go-Jek drivers to try various alternatives to be able to meet their daily necessities. This study aims to determine the effect of financial threat on the willingness to change financial behavior among Go-Jek drivers in Surabaya, Indonesia. Data was collected through a questionnaire distributed online using Google Forms, Instagram as well as offline, so that 100 respondents could be obtained. After the data was collected, it was processed through SEM-PLS to examine the relationship of economic hardship, debt, anxiety, and financial threat to willingness to change financial behavior. On the one hand, the results of the analysis show that debt and anxiety had a significant effect on financial threat, and that financial threat had a significant effect on the willingness to change financial behavior. On the other hand, they indicated that economic hardship did not have a significant effect on financial threat. Difficult financial conditions affected Go-Jek drivers' psychological conditions, and they had to be willing to change their financial behavior to survive; hence, psychological factors and financial knowledge have an influence on individuals in terms of their ability to make wise financial decisions. Keywords: Economic hardship, debt, anxiety, financial threat, willingness to change financial behavior
The first published case study of COVID-19-related suicide in Bangladesh raised the possibility of further suicides (Mamun & Griffiths, 2020a). Although this suicide occurred due to COVID-19 fear and xenophobia, the causes of consequent COVID-19 suicides have not been investigated in the country. Therefore, we briefly present eight additional suicide-related cases that occurred in Bangladesh during three weeks in April 2020, since the COVID-19 country lockdown (as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic) took effect.
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.
Background: Self-perception of physical health conditions is associated with depression and anxiety. Although some recent studies revealed a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among Bangladeshi university students, no study has yet investigated the link between self-perception of physical health and these common psychological disorders. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the association of self-perception of physical health conditions with depression and anxiety among university students in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between August and November 2017 among 897 undergraduate students of Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka through face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to examine the association between the variables.
Results: 13.9% of the respondents had poor self-rated health (SRH) and 49.9% had self-rated body image (SRBI) dissatisfaction. 25.6% of the students reported to be overweight/obese whereas 18.7% to be underweight. Poor and moderate SRH was found to be significantly associated with students’ depression (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 6.700; 95% CI: 3.821–11.749 and AOR: 2.155; 95% CI: 1.582–2.934) and anxiety (AOR: 4.365; 95% CI: 2.599–7.332 and AOR: 1.776; 95% CI: 1.270–2.484). Furthermore, SRBI dissatisfaction, underweight SRBI, overweight/obese SRBI, low blood pressure and hypertension were also significantly linked with students’ depression and anxiety.
Conclusion: Students dissatisfied with their physical health status had higher chances to suffer from depression and anxiety. The findings of this study would create room for further research and could be used to design a comprehensive health program for young students.
Background:
Adolescent depression is an alarming issue for Bangladesh since a large number of Bangladeshi adolescents suffer from depression but cannot get proper treatment. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression and factors associated with this psychological health hazard among urban and semi-urban adolescents of the Dhaka region in Bangladesh.
Methods:
A cross-sectional pilot study was performed among 311 adolescents, grades 8-10, in Dhaka city and Savar Upazila, adjacent to the city, in 2018. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of items on sociodemographics, lifestyle information, screen-based sedentary behaviour (SBSB) and mental health.
Results:
A total of 36.6% of the adolescents reported depressive symptoms, with a greater prevalence among females (42.9%) than males (25.7%). Sociodemographic factors including being female, residence and grade in school were significantly associated with depression. Logistic regression analysis showed that SBSBs, such as the use of social media (odds ratio [OR] 2.06 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.27-3.35]), high screen time (>120 min/day; OR 2.35 [95% CI 1.30-4.25]) and sleep disturbance (OR 3.93 [95% CI 2.37-6.50]) were significantly linked with depressive symptoms.
Conclusions:
Depressive symptoms are prevalent among urban and semi-urban adolescents of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Therefore, urgent initiatives should be taken to curb the spread of depression among Bangladeshi adolescents.
Common mental health problems are regarded as public health concerns, and can contribute to risky behaviors such as suicide among university students in extreme cases. However, there is a lack of studies concerning such issues in Bangladesh. The present study aimed to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the prevalence and associated risk predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress among Bangladeshi university students. The sample comprised 590 undergraduates attending Jahangirnagar University (Dhaka, Bangladesh) who completed an offline survey including sociodemographic questions, behavioral variables, and the 21-item Bangla Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (BDASS-21). The prevalence of moderate to the extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were 52.2%, 58.1%, and 24.9%, respectively. There were no significant gender differences in depression, anxiety, and stress. Risk factors for depression included coming from a lower-class family, being a cigarette smoker, and engaging in less physical exercise. Risk factors for anxiety and stress included being engaged in a relationship. The findings need to be further replicated among other Bangladeshi university students to help in the development of better intervention programs and appropriate support services targeting this vulnerable group including a focus of suicide prevention and awareness.
Background: Methadone, a long-acting opioid agonist maintenance treatment (MMT) is used to treat opioid addiction by preventing opioid withdrawal and reducing cravings. However, it is important to note that mental conditions may persist, or even remain undetected while methadone maintenance treatment is ongoing. This study aimed to examine the level of psychological problems among MMT patients at public and private health facilities and identify associated factors.
Method: From January to September 2018, a cross-sectional study was performed in Nam Dinh province, one of the largest epicenters providing HIV/AIDS surveillance and treatment services in the North of Vietnam. 395 male respondents currently receiving MMT agreed to participate in a face-to-face interview. Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were used to assess psychological problems among patients.
Results: The percentage of patients suffering from mild to extremely severe anxiety was the highest among psychological problems (18%). 2.8% of participants had mild depressive symptoms and the percentage of those having mild or moderate stress was approximately 4%. In addition, the longer treatment duration, the lower mental health scores regarding three types of psychological problems. Respondents who received MMT services in public health facilities were more likely to have a higher score of all psychological problems. Participants who lived with partners or spouse, having higher monthly family income had a lower likelihood of having severe depression and stress status. Freelancers or blue-collars/farmers had lower score of depression and anxiety compared to people being unemployed.
Conclusion: This study suggests that among our sample, MMT patients receiving treatment in public health facilities might have higher rate of psychological problems, including depression, anxiety, and stress than that of those in the private health facility. These results highlight the necessity of taking psychological counseling adequately for MMT patients and psychological assessment should be prioritized in the early stage of treatment.
Background: Recent trends suggest that university graduates seeking jobs are more susceptible to common mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, or stress. However, the mental health issues among unemployed graduates has not been explored in Bangladesh yet.
Aims: This study aimed to assess for the first time the prevalence and associated risk factors of depression, anxiety, and stress among Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) job seekers. Three hundred four graduates residing in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, who were preparing to attend the 40th BCS examination, the most sought-after employment opportunity in the country, were surveyed.
Methods: Measures included socio-demographics, field of study, and career-related variables, and the Bangla Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). Chi-square test, Fisher exact test, and binary logistic regression with “depression,” “anxiety,” and “stress” as the dependent variables were carried out to identify the factors associated with these.
Results: Overall, the prevalence of moderate to extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress was 49.3%, 53.6%, and 28.3%, respectively, with no detectable differences between genders. Insecurity related to a BCS job (OR = 0.41; CI = 0.26–0.65, p < 0.001; ref: job insecurity), family and social pressure to obtain a BCS job (OR = 4.58; CI = 1.67–12.56, p < 0.001), and stress (OR = 8.33; CI = 4.47–15.51, p < 0.001) emerged as independent predictors for depression. In addition, having part-time job was associated with anxiety (OR = 2.38; CI = 1.34–4.23, p = 0.003), and security in a BCS job and serving the nation through this job were negatively associated with stress (OR = 0.59; CI = 0.35–0.98, p = 0.042 vs. OR = 0.59; CI = 0.36–1.00, p = 0.05).
Conclusion: The relatively high rates of depression, anxiety, and stress among graduate job seekers should prompt implementation of market force initiatives that incorporate interventions related to the major risk factors uncovered herein.
Online video gaming has become one of the world’s most popular leisure time activities among youth (Ballabio et al. 2017; Männikkö et al. 2015). Research has consistently shown that gaming can bring many positive benefits including therapeutic, medical, health, cognitive, and educational benefits (Griffiths 2002, 2019; Nuyens et al. 2019). However, for a small minority, gaming can be problematic and potentially addictive (Kuss and Griffiths 2012; Pontes and Griffiths 2014).
One of the most popular games at the time of writing is PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), a “winner-takes-all” team game inspired by the Japanese film, Battle Royale. More specifically, in each game, PUBG parachutes 100 players on to a virtual island where teams of four fight each other to death until only one team is left alive. It was officially launched in December 2017 and can be played on both gaming consoles and smartphones (Quartz India 2018) and has been downloaded over 100 million times on the Google...
Depressive disorders have been found to be a significant health issue among industrial workers, resulting from work-related factors and causing serious burdens for the workers as well as their employers. Literature on mental health problems of Vietnamese industrial workers has been limited, despite the rapid foreign investment-fueled industrialization process of the country. This study aimed to fill the gap in literature by examining the prevalence of depressive disorders and their potential associated factors among a cohort of Vietnamese industrial workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 3 industrial areas in Hanoi and Bac Ninh. A total of 289 workers agreed to participate in the study. Generalized linear mixed models were applied to identify associated factors with depression status of respondents. 38.6% of participants reported suffering depression. Factors found to be positively associated with the possibility of having depression and higher PHQ9 score were long working hours, suffering more health problems, and health hazards exposure at work. Meanwhile, being females, having more children, living with parents, engaging in smoking, and being local workers were found to correlate with lower likelihood of being depressed. The findings suggested the importance of regular health screening, work safety assurance, and social support outside of workplace on the mental health of the workers.
Although internet addiction (IA) has been the subject of research in many countries, it is poorly studied in Bangladesh, and previous studies in the country have not examined potential mental health risk factors in relation to the development of IA. The present pilot study attempted to assess the prevalence and associated risk factors of IA among a convenience sample of recently graduated university students actively looking for a job (N = 284) from July to October 2018 in Rajshahi (a city in Bangladesh). The measures included socio-demographic and behavioral variables, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. Surprisingly, no cases of IA were identified in the sample (i.e., the prevalence rate of IA was 0%) which may have been a consequence of the specific population sampled. A total of 3.9% of the participants (n = 11) were classified as excessive users (≥ 60 in IAT). Using regression analysis, the risk factors for excessive internet use were spending more time online (> 5 h daily) and experiencing psychiatric conditions (i.e., depression, stress). It is hoped the present pilot study will facilitate further study in Bangladesh with a more in-depth focus on the socio-demographic and psychiatric morbidities in excessive and problematic internet use. It is also speculated that job-seeking may be a situational protective risk factor for developing IA.
Objectives: Early detection of depression has been assumed to lead to its earlier and better care. Increased depression literacy among the general population might play a vital role in the early and successful detection and treatment. We aimed to investigate depression literacy among first year university students, to be able to compare their depression literacy with those of other previously investigated groups, we hypothesized that depression literacy might be different from other groups such as patients and other subjects from the general population. Knowledge about depression might also be different in female and male student.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among first-year students of Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh between January and May 2018. A convenience sample of 306 students was randomly identified from list of students obtained from the authority. Relevant sociodemographic variables were collected. Students were interviewed using the Bangla Depression Literacy scale (D-Lit Bangla). This was a semi structured interview asking for the knowledge on 20 different characteristics of depression. Collected data were analyzed to estimate mean score and 95% confidence intervals of D-Lit Bangla scores.
Results: The mean score of correctly identified characteristics of depression was 6.6 (95% CI=6.31 to 6.89). Only five characteristics of depression were correctly identified by more than 50% participants, i.e. sleep change (76.7%), feeling of guilt (75.2%), low self-esteem (81.8%), psychomotor changes (64.6%) and identification of famous people suffering depression (66.7%). Only a very small portion of the participants correctly knew about psychotic symptoms and different options for the treatment of depression. There were no significant differences between male and female students in the amount and pattern of knowledge of depression.
Conclusions: The study revealed poor literacy status among the first-year university students of Bangladesh. Both male and female gender have similar amount of depression literacy.
Having a job is an essential part of people’s development. Unemployment, on the contrary, is one of the most frustrating experiences of life with greater psychological consequences for people’s lives. In this sense, psychology has contributed to an increase in knowledge about the personal and social experience of unemployment. This article discusses indicators of anxiety and depression in unemployed people, modulating socio-demographic variables, and coping strategies involved in the higher and lower levels of anxiety and depression. For this, a sample of 244 unemployed people who are users of the Career Service Centre of the Andalusian Public Employment Service of the city of Huelva is used for a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study. The results show that only 5.7% of the participants do not have depressive symptoms. With regards to anxiety levels, 41.3% of participants have no anxiety. Unemployed people with high anxiety and depression scores have developed maladaptive coping strategies such as substance use, self-blaming, or denial. It is necessary to assess the importance of the unemployment process and the incorporation of appropriate coping strategies that facilitate new integration in the labour market, such as planification, emotional or social support and self-distraction between others.
Misophonia, also known as selective sound sensitivity syndrome, is a condition characterized by strong dislike of specific sounds with accompanying distressing reactions. To date, misophonia is still poorly understood. This study aimed to identify factors associated with severity of misophonic symptoms in Singaporean psychiatric patients. Ninety-two psychiatric patients were recruited from a large teaching hospital in Singapore in a cross-sectional study. Socio-demographics, severity of depression, anxiety and stress, and severity of misophonic symptoms were analyzed. Correlation analysis showed that anxiety, depression, and stress scores—as measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21)—were significantly positively correlated with the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale (A-MISO-S) scores. After adjustment for confounding factors, multivariate regression analysis showed that anxiety (β = 0.385, p = 0.029) remained significantly associated with A-MISO-S. Age, gender, depression, and stress were not significantly associated with the severity of misophonia. The findings showed that the severity of anxiety was associated with severity of misophonia in Singaporean psychiatric patients. Further research is needed to explore the nature of misophonia and its relationship with other psychiatric disorders.
Background:
Although unemployment and high levels of perceived stress have been associated in cross-sectional studies, the direction of causation is unknown. We prospectively examined if high levels of perceived everyday life stress increased the risk of subsequent unemployment and further if differences existed between socioeconomic status-groups.
Methods:
We included 9335 18-64-year-old employed respondents of a health survey (North Denmark Health Profile 2010) in which Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale was used to assess the level of perceived stress. Data were linked individually to national administrative registers. Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the association between perceived stress quintiles and risk of unemployment during 98 weeks of follow-up. Analyses were further performed in subgroups defined by education and income.
Results:
In total, 224 people (10.4%) of the high stress group became unemployed during follow-up, which was higher than the lower stress groups. After adjusting for gender, age, education and income, the risk of unemployment was 1.64 (95% CI: 1.28;2.11) in the high stress group compared to the low stress group. After adjusting for gender and age, a similar trend was observed across different education levels and among the lower income groups, but no higher risk of unemployment due to perceived stress was found among the higher income groups. However, there was no statistically significant interaction between perceived stress and income level (p = 0.841) or perceived stress and education level (p = 0.587).
Conclusion:
Perceived everyday life stress nearly doubled the risk of subsequent unemployment in a working population. No statistically significant interactions between SES and perceived stress were found. This indicates that stress prevention among the working population should not solely focus on stress in the workplace but also include stress from everyday life.
Background
Increases in unemployment and suicide in the young Korean population have recently become major social concerns in the country. The purpose of this study was to examine mental health status in young job seekers and identify sociodemographic factors related to job-seeking stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. We also explored the mediating effect of depression on the relationship between job-seeking stress and suicidal ideation and examined whether social support moderated this effect.
Methods
In total, 124 university graduates completed the Job-Seeking Stress Scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Descriptive statistics were calculated for participants' general characteristics, and t-tests or analyses of variance, correlation analysis, simple mediation analysis, and mediated moderation analysis were performed.
Results
Of the 124 participants, 39.5% and 15.3% exhibited clinical levels of depression and suicidal ideation, respectively. Sociodemographic factors (i.e., sex, academic major, educational expenses loan, and willingness to accept irregular employment) were associated with job-seeking stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. Women and graduates who were willing to accept irregular employment exhibited high levels of job-seeking stress, depression, and suicidal ideation. Job-seeking stress affected suicidal ideation via depression, and perceived social support moderated the effect of job-seeking stress on depression and the effect of depression on suicidal ideation.
Conclusion
The results suggest that depression management and interventions are urgently required for young job seekers, and social support should be provided to assist them both emotionally and economically.
Background
Depression is a growing health issue in both developed and developing countries. General unawareness at the population level, lack of training among health care providers and scarcity of resources including treatment opportunities may conceal the real burden of depression in developing countries, and more epidemiological studies on its prevalence and risk factors are critically needed.
Aim
This study reports the prevalence of depression and its associated risk factors among female garment factory workers in Bangladesh – a major supplier country of clothes for the Western market. This research should generate useful evidence for national and international stakeholders who have an interest in improving health, safety and well-being of outsourced factory workers.
Methods
A survey was conducted on a sample of 600 lower socio-economic status working women including garment workers. This survey collected data on demographic and health profile of these workers. The primary outcome was depression as measured by Patient Health Questionnaire 9. It also obtained data on traumatic life events and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Results
The prevalence of depression was 23.5%: 20.9% among garment workers and 26.4% among others. Part-time employment (odds ratio-OR): 2.36, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.01–5.51), chronic pain (OR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.01–2.78), two or more traumatic life events (OR: 6.43, 95% CI: 2.85–14.55) and dysuria (OR: 2.50, 95% CI: 1.02–6.15) were found to be significantly associated with depression among these workers in multivariate regression model. Depression prevalene lowered by 11% among these workers for every additional monthly earning of 1,000 taka (US$12).
Conclusion
Depression is a multifaceted health issue with many personal, social, economic and health determinants and consequences. This study demonstrates that the prevalence of moderate-to-severe depression among working women in Bangladesh is quite high. Prevention and treatment of depression in developing countries and societies can reduce suffering, lower incidence of suicide, and prevent economic loss. Creating awareness on outsourced workers’ poor mental health may help in developing initiatives to protect and preserve their well-being.
The global financial crisis that spread from the United States to Europe severely impacted Greece. This is a study of quality of life (QoL), anxiety, depression, and stress in Greece following the austerity measures imposed after the crisis. A convenience sample of 901 adults completed (1) a brief survey form, (2) the Multicultural Quality of Life Index (MQLI), and (3) the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS). Results indicated higher DASS scores in comparison to other normative populations. Overall, QoL in Greece is lower for women, those who are single, the unemployed, and those with lower incomes. Implications for social work practice and the profession are discussed.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among patients
with stroke in Bangladesh.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 164 post-stroke
patients attending two hospitals in Dhaka city between January and June 2011. Depression
was measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Factors associated with
depression were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression.
Results: The prevalence of depression was 70% and 32% had severe depression. The
mean±sd age of the participants was 58.91±7.03 years. Multivariate regression analysis
revealed that factors significantly associated with depression were living in a joint family
(OR=13.5, 95% CI=1.3-145.7, p=0.032), those unable to perform daily activities by
themselves (OR=14.9, 95% CI=2.0-108.1, p=.008) and those with comorbid dysphasia
(OR=9.5, 95% CI=1.0-86.9, p=0.046) and hypertension (OR=5.2, 95% CI=2.3-15.4,
p=0.012).
Conclusion: Depression is a significant health problem among post-stroke patients in
Bangladesh. This leads to careful management of depression for social support to achieve
better patient outcome.
The Financial Threat Scale (FTS) was designed to assess levels of fear, uncertainty, and preoccupation about the stability and security of one's finances. In previous research with Canadian university students, it was shown that the FTS was a psychometrically sound measure, associated with failing personal financial conditions, threat-related personality characteristics, and depreciated psychological health. The present investigation further examines the FTS in a diverse set of non-student European samples. Data were collected in four countries using a self-report questionnaire which included measures of ones’ financial situation, personality, and psychological health. Results were highly similar to the findings of the previous study. The FTS is unidimensional, reliable, and its validity was supported by moderate statistical relations with variables such as job insecurity, self-esteem, and emotional exhaustion. Importantly, financial threat was higher in countries that fared poorly in the recent financial crisis than countries that fared well, and it mediated the relation between economic hardship and psychological well-being. Implications for researchers are discussed.
Background
This study evaluates the association between Internal Addiction (IA) and psychiatric co-morbidity in the literature.
Methods
Meta-analyses were conducted on cross-sectional, case–control and cohort studies which examined the relationship between IA and psychiatric co-morbidity. Selected studies were extracted from major online databases. The inclusion criteria are as follows: 1) studies conducted on human subjects; 2) IA and psychiatric co-morbidity were assessed by standardised questionnaires; and 3) availability of adequate information to calculate the effect size. Random-effects models were used to calculate the aggregate prevalence and the pooled odds ratios (OR).
Results
Eight studies comprising 1641 patients suffering from IA and 11210 controls were included. Our analyses demonstrated a significant and positive association between IA and alcohol abuse (OR = 3.05, 95% CI = 2.14-4.37, z = 6.12, P < 0.001), attention deficit and hyperactivity (OR = 2.85, 95% CI = 2.15-3.77, z = 7.27, P < 0.001), depression (OR = 2.77, 95% CI = 2.04-3.75, z = 6.55, P < 0.001) and anxiety (OR = 2.70, 95% CI = 1.46-4.97, z = 3.18, P = 0.001).
Conclusions
IA is significantly associated with alcohol abuse, attention deficit and hyperactivity, depression and anxiety.
This article reviews Nordic research, published from 1995 and onwards, on the relationship between unemployment and mental health among young adults. Cross-sectional, longitudinal and time-series studies are included. Cross-sectional studies show that the unemployed experience more mental health problems than the non-unemployed. Leaving unemployment is associated with increased well-being. Economic problems, feelings of shame and poor social support increase the likelihood of psychological distress. The longitudinal studies show that unemployment increases the risk of psychological distress and attempted suicide, after initial mental health status and confounding factors are accounted for. The relationship remains significant when time-invariant characteristics of the individuals are controlled for. The time-series studies found no relationship between unemployment and suicide, but levels of psychological distress were found to vary with changes in the labour market. This relationship remained significant after excluding the non-employed, indicating that unemployment trends have effects beyond those directly associated with unemployment.
Many Indian COVID-19 suicide cases are turning the press-media attentions and flooding social media platforms although, no particular studies assessed the COVID-19 suicide causative factors to a large extent. Therefore, the present study presents 72 COVID-19 suicide cases (aged 19 to 65 years; 55 cases were males). The suicide causalities are included as follows – fear of infection (16-cases), quarantine related issues (whereas no specific reasons were reported in 9 cases and rest causalities were heterogenous), COVID-19 related stress (n=9), tested positive for COVID-19 (n=7), isolation related issues (n=5) and migrant unable to return home (n=3) etc. Considering the extreme psychological impacts related to COVID-19, there emerges a need for countrywide extensive tele-mental health care services.
There are many reasons for COVID-19-related suicides including the fear of getting the disease, the fear of passing the disease onto others, mental instability (e.g., depression, anxiety and/or stress) as a consequence quarantine, isolation, economic hardship, and the unavailability of food and alcohol based on published reports (Dsouza et al., 2020; Goyal et al., 2020; Mamun & Griffiths, 2020a; Mamun & Ullah, 2020; Thakur & Jain, 2020). However, another worrying type of suicide cases concerns couples dying together that are related to COVID-19, the majority of which concern suicide pacts by couples. Here, we present six cases in chronological order of couple suicides and attempted suicides relating to COVID-19 comprising 12 individuals from four countries (i.e., Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, and the US).
Many Indian COVID-19 suicide cases are turning the press-media attentions and flooding social media platforms although, no particular studies assessed the COVID-19 suicide causative factors to a large extent. Therefore, the present study presents 34 COVID-19 suicide cases (aged 19 to 65 years; 27 cases were males). The suicide causalities are included as follows – fear of infection (12-cases), suicide at quarantine center/home without specific reasons (7-cases), COVID-19 related stress (5-cases), being isolated, and lonely (3-cases), tested positive with COVID-19 (3-cases) etc. Considering the extreme psychological impacts related to COVID-19, there emerges a need for countrywide extensive tele-mental health care services.
The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated higher mental health sufferings including suicidality throughout the world. But there are no prior studies assessing either COVID-19-related psychiatric sufferings or suicides in Pakistan. Hence, after the removal of non-COVID-19 suicides, this study investigated a total 11-suicide cases (i.e., 7-confirmed and 4-suspected COVID-19 cases) from the Pakistani press reports. All but one of the confirmed COVID-19 victims were suffered from lockdown-related economic recession and being partially unemployed. Thus, lockdown is a tough choice for developing countries like Pakistan as a large number of unprivileged-poor people will be starving to death in many times to come.
The introduction of the JSC examination has led to many reports in the Bangladeshi press concerning the negative effect it has on young adolescents’ mental health and wellbeing. For instance, a Google search by the authors with the keywords “JSC exam suicide” (covering the years 2017-2019) resulted in over around 360 Bangla press reports (note- the country has no official suicide surveillance or database system, hence, suicide press reports were utilized in this study alike previous studies [e.g., Mamun et al., 2020a,b]). There were at least 39 suicides of children aged between 13 and 16 years (6 males and 33 females) relating to issues concerning the JSC exam and/or students not happy with their GPA (17 suicides in 2019, six suicides in 2018, and 16 suicides in 2017). There were two other cases of suicide due to general academic distress but these were not due specifically to the JSC or GPA not being perceived as good enough (not listed in Table 1). Of the 39 identified cases, 34 committed suicide by hanging, four by poisoning, and one jumped in front of a train.
Background
Researchers have claimed that problematic internet use (PIU) and internet addiction (IA) is a global mental health problem. However, little research has addressed this issue in Bangladesh and no previous study has examined the relationship between PIU and potential psychological risk factors.
Aim
The present study examined the prevalence of PIU and its associated risk factors including socio‐demographic variables, internet use behaviors, and other psychological variables including loneliness, self‐esteem, and psychological distress.
Methods
A cross‐sectional study was conducted among Bangladeshi students (N = 605). Measures included the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Rosenberg's Self‐Esteem Scale, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the General Health Questionnaire.
Results
Using a cut‐off score of ≤60 (out of 100) on the IAT, the prevalence of PIU was 16.5% (n = 100). Regression analysis showed that sleep disturbance (more or less than 6‐7 hours sleeping time), not using internet for academic purposes, and online chatting were risk factors for PIU. Loneliness and psychological distress were positively correlated with PIU, whereas self‐esteem was negatively correlated.
Conclusions
The present study highlights that PIU among Bangladeshi university students is an issue of concern and that targeted prevention is needed among emerging adults to help overcome the potentially negative effects of problematic internet use.
On March 25 (2020), after returning from Dhaka, a 36-year-old Bangladeshi man (Zahidul Islam, from the village of Ramchandrapur) committed suicide because he and the people in his village thought he was infected with COVID-19 based on his fever and cold symptoms and his weight loss (Somoy News, 2020). Due to the social avoidance and attitudes by others around him, he committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the village near his house. Unfortunately, the autopsy showed that the victim did not have COVID-19 (Somoy News, 2020).
The main factor that drove the man to suicide was prejudice by the others in the village who thought he had COVID-19 even though there was no diagnosis. Arguably, the villagers were xenophobic towards Mr. Islam. Although xenophobia is usually defined as a more specific fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers, xenophobia is actually the general fear of something foreign or strange (in this case COVID-19 rather than the victim’s ethnicity). Given that the victim believed he had COVID-19, it is also thought that he committed suicide out of a moral duty to ensure he did not pass on the virus to anyone in his village.
Objective: Suicide has become the second leading cause of fatality among the 15-29-year-old age group. Bangladeshi statistics indicates 61% of suicides are within this age range. However, the nature of student suicides as well these issues concerning gender differences has been less studied inside the country. Consequently, the present study investigated students suicide cases using examples from the Bangladeshi news media. Methods: Bangladeshi student suicide press reports over an 18-month period were collated using Google search in the present study. After the removal of repeated cases, a total of 56 reported suicides remained for final analysis. Results: Most cases were male (n=40), Muslim (n=43), belonged to public university (n=17), graduated at upper level (n=37) and committed suicide at midnight (n=25). The most common suicide method was hanging (n=42). The most common reasons for suicide included relationship problems (n=11), exam failure (n=10), and family arguments (n=6). Gender differences showed that 9 out of 16 female suicides were medical students whereas male suicide cases were more diverse across educational types and levels. Limitations: This study only included student suicide cases reported by printed news media, so the total number of cases is unknown as because not all such deaths will have been reported. Conclusions: The results reflect global suicide trends (e.g. more cases of male suicide) although, the findings were not consistent with previous Bangladeshi researches which tend to proclaim higher rates of female suicide. Results suggest that suicide prevention programs are needed, particularly among male adolescents and young men.
The suicide victim was an 18-year-old male Bangladeshi second-year commerce student at Dhaka City College who originally came from the village of Kaliganj (in Jhenaidah, Bangladesh). He was the oldest child of a policeman in the Ramna Police Division. The victim shot himself in the right side of his head with his father’s licensed pistol early one Sunday morning (8am) although the bullet was eventually removed from the left side of his brain. He shot himself while his younger brother and younger sister went out for a walk with their father. (It was also reported that his twin brother had died soon after being born). The family were currently living in the Azimpur Government Staff quarters. It was reported in media (based on his family’s accounts and his suicide note) that the victim was a “gentle boy” but said to be very stressed about an upcoming examination because he did not get the highest marks in his previous examination. It was also reported that he suffered from some mental health problems (i.e., depression and distress). It was also claimed by his father that he was addicted to playing videogames. In his bedroom suicide note he wrote that (in reference to the videogames he played) that “even in death, I will be hero”. It was also claimed that he was not happy with his physical appearance (i.e., obesity and being black in skin color).
Background: Although, medical students’ suicide has become hot-cake in suicidology, there is a lack of studies based on actual medical student suicides’ retrospective reports in both the historical and international literature (including Bangladesh). Consequently, the present study aimed to utilize the medical students suicide victims’ cases reported by Bangladeshi news media.
Methods: This retrospective study investigated Bangladeshi medical student suicide reports of 23 months (from January, 2018 to November, 2019) via collecting news reports using Google search. After removal of non-medical student suicide reports, a total of 13 reported suicides remained.
Results: Results showed that among 13 reported cases, most of the victims were from public medical colleges (n=9) and 4 were from either a private medical college, medical technology institute, medical institute, and paramedical institute, 8 were female, one-third (7 of the 10 that reported year of study) were in the final stages (i.e., fourth or fifth) year of medical curriculum, and most of the suicide cases occurred in the first half of the academic year. All but one of the suicides were by hanging (n=12) and the most provided reason for suicide was academic distress.
Limitations: This study negotiated only the reported suicide cases by news media, so there is a possibility of having increase the total number of cases (if any missing reports existed).
Conclusions: The suicide rates were much higher compared to that in other countries. It is recommended that bespoke suicide preventive programs are needed to increase psychological wellbeing for Bangladeshi medical students.
We provide an initial observation of PTSD-related suicide for the first time in Bangladesh. Also suggests the issues relating to psychological autopsy and suicide preventive activities.
Problematic Internet Use (PIU) has become a concern for public mental health across the globe. However, there are few studies assessing PIU in Bangladesh. The present cross-sectional study estimated the prevalence rate of PIU and its associated risk factors among 405 university students in Bangladesh between June and July 2018. The measures included sociodemographic questions, internet and health-related variables, the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The prevalence of PIU was 32.6% among the respondents (cut-off score of ≥50 on the IAT). The prevalence of PIU was higher in males in comparison to females, although the difference was not statistically significant. Internet-related variables and psychiatric comorbidities were positively associated with PIU. From the unadjusted model, more frequent use of the internet and more time spent on the internet were identified as strong predictors of PIU, whereas the adjusted model showed depressive symptoms and stress only as strong predictors of PIU. It is hoped this preliminary study will facilitate further study on PIU along with other psychiatric disorders in Bangladesh.
The pathological use of the internet - conceptualized as 'internet addiction' - might be crucial in initiating and increasing sleep disturbances in the community. While inconsistent evidence is reported regarding the association of internet addiction and sleep disturbances, the severity of this association remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to increase our understanding of the relationship between internet addiction and sleep disturbances. A systematic review was conducted through Scopus, PubMed Central, ProQuest, ISI Web of Knowledge, and EMBASE using keywords related to internet addiction and sleep problems. Observational studies (cohort, case-control or cross-sectional studies) focusing on association between internet addiction and sleep disturbances including sleep problems and sleep duration were selected. A meta-analysis using random-effect model was conducted to calculate the odds ratio (OR) for experiencing sleep problems and standardized mean differences (SMDs) for sleep duration. Eligible studies (N = 23) included 35,684 participants. The overall pooled OR of having sleep problems if addicted to the internet was 2.20 (95% CI: 1.77-2.74). Additionally, the overall pooled SMDs for sleep duration for the IA group compared to normal internet users was -0.24 (95% CI: -0.38, -0.10). Results of the meta-analysis revealed a significant OR for sleep problems and a significant reduced sleep duration among individuals addicted to the internet.
Background: The psychological health of university students is an issue of utmost concern worldwide. Its consequences include multifaceted outcomes from complex interactions of sociocultural, environmental, and individual lifestyle factors. This research explores the impacts of socio-cultural environment and lifestyle factors on the psychological health of university students in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Methods: A 15-month follow-up was carried out among 1140 university students from April 2016 to November 2017. Data were collected by using a pre-developed questionnaire, consisting of socio-demographic information, comprehensive lifestyle information, and psychological health information including a nine-item scale, the
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for assessing the level of depression, and a 7-item scale, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) for assessing the level of anxiety. The collected data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 22.
Results: With time, there was a 22.5% increase in the prevalence of provisional depression and a 27.1% increase in the prevalence of anxiety. In terms of demographic factors, findings revealed that students dissatisfied with university culture were significantly more likely to experience depression (B=5.13, p<0.01, β=0.33) and anxiety (B=4.69, p<0.01, β=0.34). ‘Being female’, ‘being students of social sciences faculty’, ‘dissatisfaction with current education, financial condition and future career’ were found to be significant predictors of students’ psychological disorders. In terms of lifestyle factors, participants with high and excessive recreational screen time were significantly more vulnerable to depression (B=1.25, p<0.01, β=0.097 and B=1.75, p<0.01, β=0.12) and anxiety (B=0.86, p=0.02, β=0.08 and B=1.22, p<0.01, β=0.096). Additionally, ‘weekly physical inactivity’, ‘dissatisfaction with daily sleep’, ‘short and long sleep duration’, ‘low and high daily meal intake frequency’ and ‘alcohol consumption’ were inextricably linked with students’ depression and anxiety.
Conclusion: The prevalence of provisional as well as major depressive and anxiety disorders among university students in Bangladesh is significantly high and augmented in nature. This study provides significant information about the adverse impacts of university socio-cultural environment and students’ lifestyle factors on their psychological health conditions.
Women living in disaster-prone areas are at risk of developing and suffering from mental health problems, such as depression. However, this issue has not been studied previously among village dwelling women in Bangladesh. Improved knowledge of post-disaster depression rates and its risk factors could facilitate design and implementation of targeted disaster management protocols. Therefore, face-to-face surveys were conducted from September to October 2017 among 111 women in Dalbangha village, Bangladesh who survived cyclone Mora. Depression was assessed using the Bangla Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ-9) along with relevant socio-demographics and disaster-related variables. The prevalence of depression was 64.9% and 36.9% of the women failed to receive any alert prior to the disaster. Along with a wide range of post-disaster consequences, 36.0% were physically injured, 27.9% had to be absent from work with consequent income loss, and 17.1% experienced death of family member. Lower age group (18-30 year), being an income earner, disaster-related physical injury, and post-disaster work absenteeism emerged as the risk factors associated with depressive symptoms. In light of current findings, disaster preparedness programs and management protocols should incorporate measures aimed at palliating the risk factor elements that promote depression among vulnerable women following a disaster.
Social media addiction has become an area of increasing research interest over the past few years. However, there has been no previous research on social media addiction in Bangladesh. The present pilot study is the first ever in Bangladesh to examine the relationship between one specific form of social media addiction (i.e., ‘Facebook addiction’) and its associated predictors. This present study comprised 300 students from the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh) who participated in a survey that included questions relating to socio-demographics, health and behavioral measures, and the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS), and the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9). The prevalence of FA was 39.7% (cutoff score was ≥18 on the BFAS). Using a regression analysis, the risk of being addicted to Facebook was predicted by being single, having less involvement in physical activities, sleep disturbance (more or less than 6 to 7 hours of sleep), time spent on Facebook (≥5 hours per day), and depression symptoms. Based on the sample in the present study, the risk of Facebook addiction (as assessed using the BFAS) appears to be a significant issue among Bangladeshi students, and depression appears to be one of the main comorbid factors.
Objective: This study examined whether help seeking for mental problems was predicted by beliefs about mental illness and services and by family and social support. Methods: Singaporean adults (N=2,801) were interviewed with the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry and with questions on mental health status, beliefs about the curability of mental illness, embarrassment and stigma, ease of discussing mental problems, effectiveness and safety of treatment, and trust in professionals. Results: Although 10% of respondents had a depressive or anxiety disorder or combination, only 3% acknowledged having mental problems, 5% rated their mental health as fair or poor, and 6% sought help for their mental health problems. Help seeking was predicted by poor self-rated mental health and acknowledged mental illness but not by health beliefs and social support. Conclusions: Self-rated mental health status was predictive of help seeking, but other health beliefs and social support were neither strong norrobust predictors.
Introduction:
Work-related disability and productivity loss in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are critical determinants of patient quality of life and contribute significantly to the human and economic costs of MDD. Notwithstanding the return to work and pre-morbid levels of functioning as a critical therapeutic objective among individuals with MDD, it is unclear whether antidepressant treatment significantly and reliably improves measures of workplace functioning. Herein, we investigate to what extent antidepressant treatment improves workplace functioning among adults with MDD.
Methods:
We conducted a systematic review of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled or active comparator clinical trials primarily or secondarily investigating the efficacy of antidepressant agents on subjective ratings of workplace functioning and/or measures of work absence.
Results:
Thirteen placebo-controlled and four active comparator clinical trials reported on the efficacy of agomelatine, bupropion, desvenlafaxine, duloxetine, fluoxetine, levomilnacipran, paroxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, or vortioxetine on subjective measures of workplace impairment. Overall, antidepressant treatment improved standardized measures of workplace functioning (e.g., Sheehan Disability Scale-work item). One placebo-controlled trial of agomelatine and one clinical trial comparing the efficacy of vortioxetine to that of venlafaxine had mixed results on measures of work absence.
Limitations:
Included interventional trials evaluated work-related disability as a secondary outcome using subjective rating scales.
Conclusion:
Extant data suggest that antidepressant treatment improves workplace outcomes in MDD. The capability of antidepressants in improving measures of workplace functioning should be considered in cost-benefit analyses to better inform cost-modelling studies pertaining to antidepressant therapy.
Introduction
Internet addiction has been a major behavioral disorder over the past decade. Prior meta-analytic review has demonstrated the association between Internet addiction and psychiatric disorders, as well as sleep related disorders.
Aims and Objectives
There remains a paucity of literature about Internet addiction and sleep related disorders in low and middle income countries like Vietnam. It is the aim of this exploratory study to determine the association.
Methodology
An online cross-sectional study was conducted between August through to October 2015. Respondent drive sampling technique was utilized in the recruitment of participants. The short form version of the Young’s Internet addiction test was administered and sleep related disorders was ascertained by means of a self-report questionnaire. Chi-squared, t-test and ANOVA were used to determine whether there were any significant differences amongst the variables considered. Multivariate logistic regressions were also used in the analysis, in order to identify factors associated with Internet addiction.
Results
21.2% of the participants were diagnosed with Internet addiction. 26.7% of those with Internet addiction also reported that they have had sleep related difficulties. 77.2% of these participants were receptive towards seeking medical treatment. Our current study also highlighted that being single and those who were using tobacco products were not at heightened risk of developing associated sleep related issues.
Conclusions
Our current study is largely a cross-sectional exploratory study that has shown that there is a significant prevalence of both Internet addiction and sleep related disorders amongst Vietnamese youth.
Since 2008, there has been a decline in the economy of several European countries, including Portugal. In the literature, it is emphasized that periods of economic uncertainty propitiate the appearance of mental health problems and diminish populations’ well-being. The aim of the present study, with 729 Portuguese participants, 33.9% (n=247) males and 66.1% (n=482) females with an average age of 37 years old (M=36.99; SD=12.81), was to examine the relationship between economic hardship, financial threat, and financial well-being (i.e., economic stressors) and stress, anxiety, and depression (i.e., psychological health indicators), as well as to test the moderation effect of coping in the aforementioned relationship. To achieve these goals, a cross-sectional design was implemented and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the obtained data. Our results underline that coping affects the relationship between economic stressors and psychological health since subjects with lower coping levels are more vulnerable to economic stress factors than those with higher coping levels. The moderation effect was more evident in the relationships between economic hardship and stress, anxiety, and depression. The main implications of this study are presented, as well as its’ limitations and suggestions for future research. © 2016 Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada. All rights reserved.
Men and women experience different kinds of mental health problems. While women exceed men in internalizing disorders such as depression and anxiety, men exhibit more externalizing disorders such as substance abuse and antisocial behavior, which are problematic for others. These differences also vary by race and social class: for example, African Americans possess better mental health and, thus, a smaller gender gap in psychiatric problems. What explains these differences? We concentrate on conceptions of gender and gender practices. Research on gender and mental health suggests that conceptions of masculinity and femininity affect major risk factors for internalizing and externalizing problems, including the stressors men and women are exposed to, the coping strategies they use, the social relationships they engage in, and the personal resources and vulnerabilities they develop. This chapter investigates explanations in these areas for gender differences both in general and by race and class.
Background:
As with previous economic downturns, there has been debate about an association between the 2008 economic crisis, rising unemployment, and suicide. Unemployment directly affects individuals' health and, unsurprisingly, studies have proposed an association between unemployment and suicide. However, a statistical model examining the relationship between unemployment and suicide by considering specific time trends among age-sex-country subgroups over wider world regions is still lacking. We aimed to enhance knowledge of the specific effect of unemployment on suicide by analysing global public data classified according to world regions.
Methods:
We retrospectively analysed public data for suicide, population, and economy from the WHO mortality database and the International Monetary Fund's world economic outlook database from 2000 to 2011. We selected 63 countries based on sample size and completeness of the respective data and extracted the information about four age groups and sex. To check stability of findings, we conducted an overall random coefficient model including all study countries and four additional models, each covering a different world region.
Findings:
Despite differences in the four world regions, the overall model, adjusted for the unemployment rate, showed that the annual relative risk of suicide decreased by 1·1% (95% CI 0·8-1·4) per year between 2000 and 2011. The best and most stable final model indicated that a higher suicide rate preceded a rise in unemployment (lagged by 6 months) and that the effect was non-linear with higher effects for lower baseline unemployment rates. In all world regions, the relative risk of suicide associated with unemployment was elevated by about 20-30% during the study period. Overall, 41,148 (95% CI 39,552-42,744) suicides were associated with unemployment in 2007 and 46,131 (44,292-47,970) in 2009, indicating 4983 excess suicides since the economic crisis in 2008.
Interpretation:
Suicides associated with unemployment totalled a nine-fold higher number of deaths than excess suicides attributed to the most recent economic crisis. Prevention strategies focused on the unemployed and on employment and its conditions are necessary not only in difficult times but also in times of stable economy.
Funding:
University of Zurich.
The aims of this cross-sectional study were to examine the associations of suicidal ideation and attempt with Internet addiction and Internet activities in a large representative Taiwanese adolescent population.
9510 adolescent students aged 12-18years were selected using a stratified random sampling strategy in southern Taiwan and completed the questionnaires. The five questions from the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia were used to inquire as to the participants' suicidal ideation and attempt in the past one month. The Chen Internet Addiction Scale was used to assess participants' Internet addiction. The kinds of Internet activities that the adolescents participated in were also recorded. The associations of suicidal ideation and attempt with Internet addiction and Internet activities were examined using logistic regression analysis to control for the effects of demographic characteristics, depression, family support and self-esteem.
After controlling for the effects of demographic characteristics, depression, family support and self-esteem, Internet addiction was significantly associated with suicidal ideation and suicidal attempt. Online gaming, MSN, online searching for information, and online studying were associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation. While online gaming, chatting, watching movies, shopping, and gambling were associated with an increased risk of suicidal attempt, watching online news was associated with a reduced risk of suicidal attempt.
The results of this study indicated that adolescents with Internet addiction have higher risks of suicidal ideation and attempt than those without. Meanwhile, different kinds of Internet activities have various associations with the risks of suicidal ideation and attempt.