We examined the feasibility of using the neofunctional deep breathing (NDB) technique to reduce the allostatic load following the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Forty-four healthy subjects were randomised into experimental and control groups. Following the TSST procedure, participants underwent either a single session of NDB or an attention control intervention. The Procomp Infinity Biofeedback system measured breath per minute (BPM), respiratory amplitude, HRV linear domains, skin conductance, and trapezius muscle electromyographic activity. Cortisol and cytokine salivary concentrations, perceived stress, and anxiety levels were also assessed. These parameters were combined into an allostatic load index (ALI) to measure the intervention's effect. This pilot RCT demonstrated the feasibility of the study design and practicality of the intervention. The NDB group showed reduced ALI, increased respiratory abdominal amplitude, decreased BPM, increased HRV indicating parasympathetic activation, and decreased cortisol and inflammatory cytokines. This study highlighted the feasibility of testing the NDB technique in reducing allostatic load through a neurobiological and anti-inflammatory response after exposure to psychosocial stress. This protocol can represent a non-invasive therapeutic adjutant in disorders related to a dysregulation of the HPA axis or to an inflammatory state. Trial Registration: NCT04102813.

Deployment to active conflict zones significantly affects military families, with spouses often experiencing heightened stress and mental health challenges. However, research on non-US military spouses, particularly those of reserve soldiers, who may face unique stressors compared to active-duty personnel, remains scarce. This study examined perceived stress profiles among Israeli spouses of reserve soldiers during the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, and their associations with deployment stressors, mental health outcomes, and psychological protective factors. A volunteer sample of Israeli spouses of reserve soldiers (n = 293) responded to self-report questionnaires in a cross-sectional study. Using latent profile analysis of the ratings of perceived stress, three distinct profiles were identified: low (35.1%), moderate (43.5%), and high (21.3%). Higher levels of deployment stressors (e.g., fear of spouse getting physically injured) predicted membership in the moderate and high-stress profiles, while better household management was associated with lower stress profiles. The high-stress profile reported significantly greater symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to the low and moderate stress profiles. In contrast, the low-stress profile exhibited higher levels of resilience, self-compassion, and perceived social support. These findings highlight the variability in spouses' stress responses during wartime deployment and identify key factors associated with psychological adjustment. Results suggest that deployment-related fears, household management abilities, and psychological resources are crucial in shaping stress profiles and mental health outcomes among military spouses.

Thus far, little research has adopted a person-centred approach to investigate the nature of work passion profiles. As a result, our understanding of the most commonly occurring combinations of harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP) in the workplace remains limited. To achieve a more refined understanding of the nature of these work passion profiles, our first aim was thus to identify the configurations of HP and OP for work observed among five samples, including 11 subsamples, of employees (N = 7258). Then, we also considered the extent to which these profiles and their associations with theoretically-relevant predictors (work-home segmentation and organisational support) and outcomes (work engagement, work-family conflict, turnover intentions, presenteeism, and counterproductive work behaviours) generalised across all subsamples. We identified a total of five profiles with a structure that differed slightly across samples: High OP Dominant, High HP Dominant, Average HP Dominant, Low HP Dominant (i.e., low levels of passion dominated by higher levels of HP relative to OP), and Moderately Low Passion. The High OP Dominant profile was systematically the most prevalent (37.5%-54.1% of the sample), whereas the High HP Dominant was the least prevalent (2.1%-7.7%). Across all samples, work-home segmentation was related to a higher likelihood of membership into the profiles characterised by higher, relative to lower or moderate, levels of passion (HP and OP), whereas organisational support also helped employees to stay away from the High OP Dominant profile. Lastly, the least desirable outcomes were observed in the High OP Dominant profile, whereas the most desirable outcomes were observed in the High HP Dominant profile. Interestingly, work engagement levels where comparable in these two profiles. Beyond their theoretical implications for research on work passion, these results highlight how work passion has highly similar implications across contexts.

Psoriasis exhibits a higher incidence of anxiety and depression. However, the diagnostic process heavily relies on subjective evaluation. Fatty acid-binding protein 7 (FABP7) and serotonin (5-HT) are considered as potential plasma biomarkers. We aimed to investigate the potentiality of plasma FABP7 and 5-HT as biomarkers for predicting anxiety and depression in psoriasis. Data were analysed from 140 patients with psoriasis in the Shanghai Psoriasis Effectiveness Evaluation CoHort (SPEECH). Unsupervised clustering was employed to group patients based on their FABP7 and 5-HT profiles. Subsequently, patients were categorised into Group 1 (lower FABP7 and higher 5-HT) or Group 2. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to investigate the correlation between the FABP7-5-HT pattern and anxiety or depression in psoriasis patients. Patients with psoriasis have a higher incidence of anxiety or depression, as well as higher levels of FABP7 and lower levels of 5-HT. After clustering patients using K-means clustering, Group 2 showed a higher body mass index, a higher incidence of hypertension, more severe psoriasis, and more significant anxiety and depression compared to Group 1. Multivariate logistic regression shows that adjusting for covariates except PASI, duration of psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis, Group 2 had a higher risk of anxiety and depression compared to Group 1. Further adjustment for covariates yielded similar results. Pattern of FABP7-5-HT that may indicate an association with psoriasis accompanied by anxiety or depression.

Integrating cognitive appraisal theory of stress and attachment theory, the current study explored the influence of daily workplace ostracism on employee short-term work engagement and examined the mediating role of negative work reflection and the moderating effects of employee attachment styles (i.e., attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety). To test the theoretical model, we employed an experience sampling method to collect daily diary data over 10 consecutive workdays, resulting in a final sample of 834 observations drawn from 133 participants. Results of multilevel path analysis indicated that daily workplace ostracism was negatively related to employee next-day work engagement through negative work reflection at night. In addition, we found that employee attachment avoidance not only moderated the within-person relationship between daily workplace ostracism and negative work reflection at night but also alleviated the indirect effect of daily workplace ostracism on next-day work engagement via negative work reflection at night. Taken together, our study contributed by unfolding the dynamic cognitive appraisal process of workplace ostracism and identifying the significant role of attachment avoidance in shaping employees' cognitive reactions to daily workplace ostracism.

Psychological stress among frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, elevating mental health risks. Heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV-BF) is an evidence-based intervention with potential to reduce psychological burden on frontline HCWs; however, no studies have examined its use among this population since the pandemic began. We designed a trial to assess the effects of a brief HRV-BF intervention delivered via telemedicine on measures of anxiety, depression and stress, and heart rate variability, compared to an in-person intervention. We hypothesised that the telemedicine intervention would be non-inferior to the in-person intervention. Using a randomized comparison trial design, we tested a 10-day brief heart rate variability biofeedback intervention among frontline HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. They received remote, 30-min guided sessions every other day and were taught methods of heart rate variability biofeedback. Depression, anxiety and stress were assessed at baseline, 10 days, and 40 days with additional measures of anxiety measured before and after each session. HRV scores were collected at baseline, as well as during the course of the 10 days. Multilevel modelling was used to examine the change in depression, anxiety, stress and HRV scores across multiple time points and session types (telemedicine vs. in-person). There was no significant differences between telemedicine (n = 32) and in-person (n = 15) interventions on the main outcomes. Both session types showed a significant decrease in depression, anxiety and stress scores across the entire intervention, and HRV scores significantly increased across both groups. Anxiety levels also significantly decreased after each session. The non-inferiority of the telemedicine intervention to a comparable in-person intervention affirms its promise for decreasing anxiety, depression and stress among frontline HCWs and may offer a cost-effective and feasible tool to use in crises situations.

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between school bullying victimization and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) frequency, taking into consideration the mediating roles of coping strategies and emotional regulation. Participants were 12-18-year-old outpatients and inpatients who met the NSSI and depressive disorder criteria according to the DSM-5. Assessments included the Multidimensional Peer-Victimization Scale, Coping Style Scale for Middle School Students, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents, and the Functional Assessment of Self-Mutilation to examine the bullying victimization, coping strategies, emotion regulation, and NSSI behaviour. Serial multiple mediation effects of coping strategies and emotion regulation between bullying victimization and NSSI frequency were analysed using the SPSS macro PROCESS programme. A total of 2335 participants were included in this study. Bullying victimization significantly predicted NSSI frequency (B = 0.191, p < 0.001). Both coping strategies and emotion regulation were important mediators in the relationship between bullying victimization and NSSI frequency. Bullying victimization indirectly affected NSSI through two serial mediation pathways: (1) bullying victimization → problem-focused coping → cognitive reappraisal → NSSI frequency, and (2) bullying victimization → emotion-focused coping→ expressive suppression → NSSI frequency. The study revealed a positive association between bullying victimization and the frequency of NSSI among adolescents with depressive disorder. Strategies of coping and emotional regulation significantly mediated the link between bullying victimization and the frequency of NSSI. The findings suggested that supporting adolescents in adopting effective coping and emotional regulation strategies could be a crucial approach to mitigate the impact of bullying victimization on the frequency of NSSI.

Few studies have measured components of stress responses in real time-an essential step in designing just-in-time interventions targeting moments of risk. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), we characterised stress response components to everyday stressors, including reactivity (the response following a stressor), recovery (the return towards baseline), and pile-up (the accumulation of stressors) (RRPs) by quantifying the dynamics of response indicators (i.e., subjective stress, negative affect, and perseverative cognition). To determine the utility of these novel measures in capturing and characterising acute moments of the stress response, this study evaluated the proportion of variance in RRPs attributed to (1) between-person, (2) between-days, and (3) within-day (momentary) levels. Healthy adults (n = 123; aged 35-65, 79% women, 91% non-Hispanic White) participated in a 14-day study assessing stress response via EMA 6 times a day. RRPs were constructed from 10,065 EMA reports. Multilevel models with moments nested within days nested within persons were used to partition variance in the RRPs. Reactivity and recovery indicators captured the most variation within-days (i.e., across moments; range 76%-80% and 87%-89%, respectively), with small amounts of variance between-person. For pile-up, variation was mostly observed between-days (range 60%-63%) and between-persons (range 27%-31%). In contrast, raw measures of stress response reflected substantial between-person (range 32%-54%) and within-day (range 34%-53%) variance. These results demonstrated that a person-specific approach to measuring stress response components (i.e., RRPs) can capture the dynamic within-person variation in stress response, as it occurs in real time, making it well-suited for use in novel just-in-time interventions targeting moments of risk.

Stress-sensitivity (SS) is considered a psychobiological trait possibly resulting from the interaction of genetic and environmental factors (GxE). This study examined whether the interaction of SS-related genetic markers with interview-based dimensions of childhood adversity predicted longitudinal trajectories of low versus high SS. Participants were nonclinically-ascertained young adults comprising normative and elevated scores on schizotypy. SS trajectories were defined in a previous report based on three prospective assessments (23.5, 25, 28 years-old) of both retrospective (Perceived Stress Scale; PSS) and momentary (Experience Sampling Methodology; ESM) stress ratings. A total of n = 177 and n = 165 participants with PSS and ESM stress-sensitivity trajectories, respectively, as well as genetic data, were included in the study. GxE effects between a SS Polygenic Risk Score (PRS-SS) and a Genetic Risk Score of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal axis (GRS-HPA) with childhood adversity dimensions (Intrafamilial Adversity, Threat and Deprivation) on SS trajectories were examined. Threat was the most consistent predictor of persistently high SS. PRS-SS moderated the association of Threat with high-PSS. GRS-HPA moderated the effects of all adversity dimensions on high-PSS. The interaction of PRS-SS with Deprivation and GRS-HPA with Intrafamilial Adversity predicted trajectories of momentary social stress, but the effects were driven by those with lower genetic susceptibility. Genetic-HPA-axis moderates the effects of all adversity dimensions on persistent SS trajectories, as well as PRS-SS and Threat, particularly for retrospective stress measure. The findings highlight the complex interplay between GxE factors and suggest that PSS may better capture SS trait. Including biologically-meaningful GRS indexing SS and adversity dimensions in future studies using comprehensive stress measures would enhance our knowledge on high SS susceptibility and its relationship with diverse psychopathological outcomes.

Negative life events are one of the risk factors leading to problematic social media use (PSMU) among Chinese college students, but the underlying mechanism between them remains unclear. Based on compensatory internet use theory, a moderated mediation model was examined, with two dimensions of fear of missing out (FoMO) considered as parallel mediators and positive parenting as a moderator. A total of 525 college students (57.3% females, M = 21.94, SD = 1.16) participated in this three-wave longitudinal study (6 months apart). We investigated their negative life events at Time 1, FoMO at Time 2, positive parenting at Time 2 and PSMU at Time 3. The structural equation model results indicated that, after controlling for demographic variables, negative life events positively impacted students' PSMU directly and indirectly by increasing their fear of missing novel information and fear of missing social opportunities. Moreover, positive parenting moderated the mediating effect of fear of missing social opportunities but not fear of missing novel information. In conclusion, this study reflected the underlying mechanism linking negative life events to PSMU, supporting the stress-buffering model while highlighting the protective role of positive parenting.

School teachers are among workers most exposed to stress and burnout-a relevant occupational phenomenon leading to psychological and economic costs. The Environmental Sensitivity individual trait-as captured by the psychological marker of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS)-has been found to have a relevant role in stress and emotional exhaustion at work. Yet, little is still known about heightened SPS in the educational field and on underlying mechanisms occurring in the relationship between SPS, stress and burnout. The current work aimed to explore the association between SPS and burnout among teachers as well as the moderating role of perceived stress and school climate in this association. One hundred and ninety eight teachers (44.3 years; SD = 9.7, 94% F) reported on their levels of SPS, occupational burnout, perceived stress and school climate quality. In line with a vulnerability effect, we found heightened SPS largely associated with burnout. This was particularly evident in a context of high-perceived stress, suggesting that teachers high on SPS may experience more challenges in the face of elevated stress with the need of more support. When exposed to positive and supportive school climate, highly sensitive teachers showed a decrease in burnout, suggesting high SPS as a valuable strength for benefiting from positive experiences. Findings have the potential to inform the customisation of support programs, assisting both schools and work agencies in increasing their awareness of the role of individual differences in responding to both work-demand-related stress and to positive work environments.

This study examined the association between burnout, psychological distress, ward atmosphere, and working alliance (WA) among mental health workers treating patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD). Data were collected from 345 patients with SSD and 151 mental health workers across 98 residential facilities (RFs) as part of the DiAPAson project from October 2020 to October 2021. Participants were excluded from the study if they exhibited patient-operator matching errors, dropped out, or had many missing Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) scores. The final sample included 282 patients and 155 healthcare workers. Burnout was assessed using the MBI. Psychological distress was evaluated with the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire. WA and ward atmosphere were evaluated with the WA Inventory and the Ward Atmosphere Scale, respectively, in both staff and patients. Sociodemographic and clinical data was also collected and analysed. Burnout was associated with a less supportive ward atmosphere, a weaker WA, and higher staff distress. Severe psychiatric symptoms evaluated with Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale in patients were also linked to staff burnout levels. Discrepancies in the perceptions of the ward atmosphere and the WA were observed between staff and patients, with patients reporting better perceptions in both domains. Our findings highlight the complex dynamics of well-being within psychiatric care settings, emphasizing the importance of role clarity, professional autonomy, and a positive ward atmosphere in mitigating burnout. Interventions focused on such factors may help support mental health professionals involved in SSD patient care. ISRCTN registry ID ISRCTN21141466.

To explore the relationships among fertility stress, dyadic coping and marital quality in couples undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Couples receiving IVF-ET treatment at the clinic of the reproductive medicine centre of a hospital in China from February 2023 to October 2023 were selected by convenience sampling. A general information questionnaire, the Infertility Fertility Stress Scale (COMP-FPSS-SF), the dyadic coping inventory, and the marital adjustment test were used to evaluate the results. AMOS24.0 software was used to construct an actor-partner interdependence model that extended to mediation to analyze the relationships among couples' fertility stress, dyadic coping, and marital quality. The fertility stress level of IVF-ET wives was significantly higher than that of their husbands (p < 0.05). Wives' levels of dyadic coping and marital quality were significantly lower than those of husbands (p < 0.05). Fertility stress, dyadic coping, and marital quality were positively correlated between IVF-ET couples (p < 0.01). In terms of the actor effect, the fertility stress of IVF-ET couples had a significant impact on their marital quality through their dyadic coping (β = -0.188, p < 0.05; β = -0.109, p < 0.05). In terms of partner effects, wives' fertility stress significantly affected their husbands' marital quality through their own or their husbands' dyadic coping (β = -0.055, p < 0.01; β = 0.157, p < 0.01). Dyadic coping mediates the relationship between fertility stress and marital quality in IVF-ET couples. Nurses can use husbands and wives as central individuals and dyadic coping as the starting point to formulate intervention measures to reduce fertility stress and improve marital quality.

The present study examined the transition patterns in latent classes of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and post-traumatic growth among a sample of youth 4-13 months after an explosion accident in China. Latent profile analyses identified consistent three classes (Resilient, Growing, and High-Symptom) at both waves. Latent transition analysis found most Resilient individuals remained stable while most Growing and High-symptom individuals transferred. Logistic regression predicting transition pathways suggests younger individuals, males, and those who lack social support are prone to experience reduced post-traumatic growth, whereas individuals with higher trauma exposure are prone to develop PTSD. Our study provides empirical evidence supporting qualitative transitions in PTSD and post-traumatic growth levels from a person-centred perspective. This adds to the current knowledge on the heterogeneity of post-traumatic responses of human beings and offers valuable guidance for post-traumatic interventions among youths.

The primary aim was to investigate how respiration rate and inhalation/exhalation ratio influence self-reported state anxiety during a single slow diaphragmatic breathing exercise session. Eight hundred and twenty-eight participants completed the study at two separate geographical locations (Poland and Spain). Participants performed a 10-min online guided breathing exercise. Respiration rates were sampled from a continuous uniform distribution (ranging from 6 to 12 breaths/min). Similarly, inhalation/exhalation ratios were treated as continuous variables and sampled from a uniform distribution for each participant. An application programed for this experiment displayed visual and auditory cues adjusted for each participant. Before and after the breathing exercise, each participant filled in the Current Anxiety Level Measure questionnaire. Self-trait anxiety was measured with the Clinically Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale. A linear regression model showed that respiration rate, trait anxiety, pre-test anxiety, and nationality (Polish/Spanish) were positively related to post-test anxiety levels. Adding quadratic terms of respiration rate and inhalation/exhalation ratio did not improve model fit. Polish participants exhibited higher post-test anxiety levels compared with the Spanish subsample. Age was negatively associated with post-test anxiety. No significant relationships between inhalation/exhalation ratio and post-test anxiety level were found. Slower respiration rates during a single-session breathing exercise are linearly associated with lower post-test anxiety levels in a large and varied sample. This study is the largest to date and may offer further guidance for predicting expected effect sizes for the relationships between anxiety and respiratory dynamics.

Prior work consistently links additive genetic variation in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis-a multilocus genetic profile score (MGPS)-to depression risk in the context of stress exposure. However, despite that HPA MGPS variants were selected based on evidence that they elevate cortisol reactivity, there are surprisingly few tests of whether an HPA MGPS elevates cortisol reactivity to lab-based stress. Similarly, despite neurobiological connections and coordination between the HPA axis and the sympathetic nervous system (e.g., in the paraventricular nucleus and locus coeruleus), no work has tested whether an HPA MGPS influences sympathetic nervous system reactivity to stress. We investigated whether an HPA MGPS moderates the relation between lab-based stress and: (1) HPA activity indexed by cortisol, and/or (2) sympathetic activity indexed by salivary alpha-amylase, sAA. Emerging adults (N = 152; mean age = 19.5, largest subsample 44.4% Black/African American) were randomly assigned to one of two Trier Social Stress Test variations, a non-evaluative control, or an explicitly negative-evaluative condition. Participants provided DNA and repeated saliva samples for sAA and cortisol. The HPA MGPS did not significantly moderate the relationship between stress condition and cortisol or sAA reactivity, respectively; moreover, post-hoc tests highlight that individual polymorphisms showed non-significant effects in opposite directions from each other, cancelling out in aggregate. Findings suggest that the HPA MGPS's associations with cortisol reactivity are not as straightforward as initially believed. We speculate that the relationships of some HPA variants to biomarker reactivity may vary between modest lab-based stressors and the explicit negative-evaluative induction used here.

The main aim of this study was to investigate adolescents' eustress-distress and mindfulness by examining mental toughness (MT) using network and mediator analyses. The study included 414 adolescents. The results showed that MT was positively related to eustress and mindfulness, but distress was negatively related to MT. Based on the network analysis findings, we tested mindfulness' mediating role in the relationship between eustress-distress and MT. The findings showed that mindfulness played a significant mediating role. However, the mediating role of mindfulness was negative for the relationship between distress and toughness and positive for eustress. These findings advance eustress, distress, and mindfulness as mechanisms for understanding the effects of MT. Considering current knowledge of MT, eustress, distress, and mindfulness, the results are discussed.

Job strain is a major concern in the workplace. Work-related stress is an increasing challenge worldwide as it is the leading cause of long-term sickness absences, disability pensions and lower productivity. Rarely studied simultaneously, both leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and physical fitness (PF), which comprises cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and muscular fitness (MF), may have potential in preventing and managing job strain. The current study aimed to investigate whether LTPA, CRF and MF predict perceived job strain. In addition, the study examines reverse associations, that is, whether job strain predicts LTPA, CRF and MF. We used longitudinal population-based data from a Northern Finland birth cohort of 1966 (n = 5363) to analyse LTPA, CRF and MF as well as job strain and its components, job demands and job control, at age 31 years (1997) and 46 years (2012). Leisure-time physical activity was measured with a self-reported questionnaire whereas CRF and MF were measured as part of clinical examination. Linear regression analyses were used to analyse the data. In both men (n = 2548) and women (n = 2815), higher baseline MF predicted lower job strain and job demands 15 years later. In women, higher baseline total LTPA predicted higher job demands, whereas in men, higher CRF predicted lower job strain and higher job control. These associations remained significant, also when adjusted for education and occupational status. In the analyses on reverse associations, higher job control and higher job demands were linked to higher leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and total LTPA 15 years later among both men and women, except for the association between job demands and total LTPA among women. These associations remained significant after adjustment for education and occupational status, except for the association of job control with MVPA and total LTPA among men. The association of higher job demands and total LTPA became significant in women. We conclude that LTPA and PF seem beneficial in preventing and managing job strain.

Perseverative thinking and catastrophizing have well established associations with fear and distress. However, less is known about the impact of interpersonal dynamics, such as co-rumination, on these intrapersonal cognitive processes and subsequent stress. The present study addresses this knowledge gap. A sample of 433 adults from across the United States was recruited online and completed measures of co-rumination, perseverative thinking, catastrophizing, and demographic characteristics early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and the COVID Stress Scales (CSS) at six month follow up. Co-rumination, perseverative thinking, catastrophizing, and CSS scores were correlated in the expected direction. Regression analyses revealed all three independently predicted CSS worry about the dangerousness of COVID-19 subscale. Co-rumination was the strongest predictor of CSS worry about the socioeconomic impact and CSS compulsive checking scales. Perseverative thinking and catastrophizing predicted CSS traumatic stress symptoms subscale. Finally, perseverative thinking was the strongest predictor of CSS xenophobia subscale. Structural equation modelling indicated that co-rumination had a significant indirect effect on CSS scores through perseverative thinking and catastrophizing. Interpersonal dynamics, such as co-rumination, are relevant for understanding stress and are promising targets for intervention research to prevent or attenuate fears and distress, in addition to traditional intrapersonal cognitive processes such as perseverative thinking and catastrophizing.

Test anxiety (TA) is a common emotion among students during examinations. Test-induced stress can remarkably impact students' emotions and limit their performance. Mental stress is a crucial factor that could significantly alter gut microbial composition, but rare reports focus on the correlation between TA and oral microbial composition. This study aims to investigate the impact of TA on students' oral microbiota composition. This study targeted medical students who usually face heavier workloads than average undergraduates. 28 females and 19 males aged 18-30 were enrolled in this study. Questionnaires and saliva samples were collected from the participants before, during, and after the end-term examination. The level of anxiety was classified as normal, mild, moderate, and severe based on the questionnaire scores. In addition, 16S amplicon sequencing was used to analyse the composition of oral microbes. More than half of the students faced different levels of TA before and after the examination. Over three-quarters of students showed anxiety during the examination, and a quarter suffered severe TA. The 16S sequencing data showed that TA significantly altered the oral microbial composition between students with and without TA in all three survey periods. Moreover, during the examination, the genera Rothia and Streptococcus, the oral-beneficial bacteria, markedly decreased in students with TA. On the other hand, the potential pathogenic genera, such as Prevotella, Fusobacterium, and Haemophilus, significantly increased in the students with TA. And the TA effect on oral microbes displayed a gender difference among students. A high ratio of TA existed in the students during their examination period, and TA could significantly alter the oral microbial composition, decrease beneficial microbes, and promote potential pathogenic oral microbes.

Correctional workers (CWs) endure several operational stressors (e.g., exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events) and organisational stressors (e.g., shift work, staff shortages), which are associated with positive screens for mental disorders and self-reports of suicidal behaviours and thus urgently warrant further inquiry. The Canadian Provincial and Territorial Correctional Worker Mental Health and Well-Being Study (CWMH) used an online survey to collect data from Canadian correctional service organisations across all 13 provinces and territories. This national Canadian study investigates suicidal behaviours among CWs across diverse occupational roles and provincial and territorial jurisdictions (n = 3740, 50.1% female). The results estimated prevalence proportions for self-reported past-year and lifetime suicidal thoughts, planning, and attempts across the 13 Canadian provincial and territorial correctional systems, with the exceptions of past-year suicidal planning in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Yukon where jurisdictional considerations and requests precluded the inclusion of select questions. Substantial proportions of participants reported past-year or lifetime suicidal ideation (i.e., 9.1%, 29.2%, respectively), planning (i.e., 4.1%, 14.7%, respectively), or attempts (i.e., 0.8%, 7.2%, respectively). Sociodemographic variables (i.e., sex, age, marital status, total years of service, occupational category) were associated with past-year and lifetime suicidal behaviours. Findings provide opportunities for future research and can inform tailored efforts by clinicians, service providers, and organisational leaders to support proactive interventions and treatments, including supporting the partners and families of CWs, fostering social support networks, and improving access to timely mental health treatment.

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is a possible common reaction to exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) during military service. However, knowledge about correlates of PTG among female combat veterans is sparse. This study examines associations between combat exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), general self-efficacy (GSE), and PTG among Israeli female veterans. This is a cross-sectional studyA volunteer sample of female Israeli combat veterans (n = 616) and non-combat veterans (n = 484) responded to self-report questionnaires. Combat veterans reported higher levels of combat exposure, PTSS, GSE, and PTG, as compared to non-combat veterans. Among combat veterans, combat exposure and GSE were associated with greater PTG. Importantly, PTSS and GSE mediated the link between combat exposure and PTG. The study's findings are among the first to report about possible psychological growth outcomes among Israeli combat veterans. Clinicians treating female veterans coping with combat trauma should be aware of the heterogeneity of reactions to military service challenges and the importance of enhancing veterans' GSE to facilitate PTG.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unparalleled stressor that enhanced isolation. Loneliness has been identified as an epidemic by the US Surgeon General. This study aimed to: (1) characterize longitudinal trajectories of loneliness during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) identify longitudinal mediators of the relationship of loneliness with anxiety and depression; and (3) examine how loneliness naturally clusters and identify factors associated with high loneliness. Two hundred and twenty-nine adults (78% female; mean age = 39.5 ± 13.8) completed an abbreviated version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, State Anxiety Inventory, and Patient Health Questionnaire-8 longitudinally between April 2020 and 2021. Trajectory analyses demonstrated relatively stable loneliness over time, while anxiety and depression symptoms declined. Longitudinal analyses indicated that loneliness effects on anxiety and depression were both partially mediated by perceived stress, while emotion regulation capacity only mediated effects on anxiety. Three stable clusters of loneliness trajectories emerged (high, moderate, and low). The odds of moderate or high loneliness cluster membership were positively associated with higher perceived stress and negatively associated with greater cognitive reappraisal use. Our results demonstrate the important interconnections between loneliness and facets of mental health throughout the early phases of the pandemic and may inform targeted future interventions for loneliness work.

Compared to research about the effects of work-related interpersonal experiences on employee behaviours at home, research on whether and how home-related interpersonal experiences can affect employee behaviours at work has received less attention. This study aimed to contribute to this literature by examining whether interpersonal conflict at home can predict employee silence through exhaustion at work. The moderating effect of affective commitment on the relationship between interpersonal conflict at home and exhaustion was also explored. Using a two-wave design with data from 246 full-time employees, the current study found that interpersonal conflict at home positively predicted employee silence through exhaustion at work. Further, affective commitment exacerbated the relationship between interpersonal conflict at home and exhaustion at work. Our findings extend the understanding of mediating and moderating mechanisms for the effect of negative experiences at home on work behaviours.

Perceived control (PC) is associated with lower perceived stress, but the mechanisms of this relationship have not yet been established. The current study examined whether moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) mediated the relationship between PC and daily stress in a sample of US adults. Participants (N = 264, M = 34.08, 61.4% female) completed a baseline measure of two dimensions of PC (i.e., mastery and constraints), followed by 11 days of daily surveys that assessed daily MVPA and perceived stress. We employed linear mixed effects modelling to estimate the within-and between-person indirect effects (IE) of MVPA on the relationships between each dimension of PC and daily perceived stress. Greater PC (i.e., higher mastery and lower constraints) was associated with a higher frequency of MVPA engagement, and participants reported lower levels of end-of-day perceived stress on the days in which they had engaged in MVPA. We observed within-person mediating effects of MVPA on the relationship between both PC dimensions and daily stress (mastery: within-person IE = -0.03, 95% CI: [-0.06, -0.01]; constraints: within-person IE = 0.03, 95% CI: [0.01, 0.06]). These findings suggest that MVPA is a potential mechanism through which US adults with greater PC experience reduced levels of daily stress. The current study illuminates a key pathway for the stress-reducing impact of PC to inform future research and interventions targeting stress and its associated sequelae.

The associations of suicidality with stress are poorly studied in schizophrenia. The study aimed to determine whether suicidality was correlated with perceived chronic stress and the cortisol fluctuations under stress tasks in schizophrenia. High suicidality was defined as a lifetime history of suicide attempts or suicidal ideation in the past 2 weeks. Individuals with schizophrenia and high suicidality (SZ-HS, n = 59), with low suicidality (SZ-LS, n = 207), and healthy controls (HC, n = 196) finished the Perceived Stress Scale. Then, they participated in an experiment that induced stress using the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task and the Mirror Tracing Persistence Task. Negative affect was measured at baseline and after finishing each task. The salivary cortisol was collected before-, after 20 min, and after 40 min of the tasks. SZ-HS had elevated perceived stress than SZ-LS and HC. Mixed effect models showed that stress tasks induced cortisol changes in all groups; cortisol of SZ-LS was reduced more than HC, but SZ-HS and SZ-LS did not differ in cortisol fluctuations. SZ-HS and SZ-LS experienced similar negative affect changes during tasks and the difference in withdrawal rates was nonsignificant. SZ-HS had an increased error rate than SZ-LS. In conclusion, suicidality was correlated with high-level perceived stress but did not result in differences in cortisol reactivities under stress tasks. It suggests the inconsistency between appraisal of stress and biological stress system disturbance among SZ-HS compared to SZ-LS.

There is increasing interest in identifying how posttraumatic growth (PTG) impacts emotional processing following traumatic events (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic). Previous research suggests that high PTG levels may lead to enduring changes in positive emotional processing. Despite this fact, little is known regarding brain activation and responses to stressful emotional stimuli. The present study utilised event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate whether individual differences in emotional responses toward neutral and negative emotional stimuli related to COVID-19 are related to self-reported PTG levels. A total of 77 participants were analysed: 21 in the high PTG group and 56 in the control group. The amplitude of the N2 was smaller in the high PTG group compared to the control group under both negative and neutral conditions. When viewing the negative emotion pictures (vs. neutral pictures), the N2 amplitude significantly decreased for the high PTG group in the right occipital and frontal-parietal areas, whereas no significant change was observed among the control group. In the time window Late Positive Potential (LPP) 600-1000 ms, emotional stimuli and the group interaction were significant. Viewing negative pictures (vs. neutral pictures) decreased the LPP 600-1000 ms amplitudes for the control group, mainly originating from the brain's frontal regions. However, there were no such significant differences for the PTG group. Due to the limited sample size and cultural differences, the applicability of these results to other regions or countries needs to be verified. The presented findings suggest that the impact of PTG during emotional response is reflected in both bottom-up (evidenced by the early ERP components) and top-down (evidenced by the later ERP components) processes. Individuals with high PTG may use a meditation-related emotional regulation strategy of acceptance at the basic stage and non-judgement at a later stage.

Parental stress can affect the ability of parents to cope with the challenges of raising children. The result can be a negative cycle within the family dynamic, which in turn can interfere with children's development and emotional regulation. Among the many instruments available to assess parental stress, the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) deserves particular mention. To our knowledge, there are currently no systematic reviews evaluating the psychometric properties of the PSS. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the psychometric properties of the PSS using the COSMIN (COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments) methodology and to conduct a meta-analysis. A thorough literature search was conducted from different databases. A meta-analysis to test the generalisability of PSS internal consistency across its component factors was performed. A total of 20 validation studies of the PSS were identified. Based on the COSMIN methodology, this instrument receives an 'A' rating, meaning that it is considered to be a cross-sectional instrument with the necessary scientific evidence for the assessment of the construct of parental stress. The meta-analysis testing the generalisability of its internal consistency yielded satisfactory results across the different factors. Future research should focus on those psychometric properties of the PSS that have not been studied as extensively, such as reproducibility, responsiveness, measurement error, and measurement invariance.

Research has demonstrated that encounters of potentially moral injurious events (PMIEs) may result in longstanding psychological trauma that impact healthcare workers' mental health and well-being. In this paper, we explore strategies to alleviate PMIEs for medical social workers. In-depth semi-structured interviews (30-60 min) were conducted with medical social workers (n = 75) across the state of Texas. Supported by directed content analysis, textual data were coded and categorised to finalize emerging themes. Findings demonstrate that multilevel strategies ought to be implemented into daily healthcare practice. PMIEs that impact frontline healthcare delivery can be alleviated by having formal and informal support systems (e.g., mentorship, supervision, counselling) as well as honest and transparent interprofessional collaborative care to facilitate psychological team safety. PMIEs across the healthcare organisation, perhaps due to internal policies and practices, may be reduced by implementing educational initiatives and building ethical workplace cultures that serve to explicitly reduce stigma associated with mental health and enhance worker well-being. PMIEs that derive from macro-level social policies (e.g., insurance, health disparities) may be alleviated by instituting patient advocacy initiatives and dismantling systems of oppression to lessen psychological stress and trauma. Hospital leadership ought to understand how the United States healthcare industry triggers PMIEs across the healthcare workforce. Multi-tiered practices and policies that addresses frontline delivery care, leadership and administrative responsibilities, and the healthcare industry can enhance psychologically safe workplaces and elicit macro-level institutional reform in how health systems function. These findings have important implications for healthcare policy makers, practitioners, educators, and researchers to inform future research and practice development.

Military personnel are often exposed to high levels of both physical and psychological challenges in their work environment and therefore it is important to be trained on how to handle stressful situations. The primary aim of this study was to examine whether military-specific virtual battle space (VBS) scenarios could elicit a physiological and subjective stress response in healthy military personnel, as compared to that of a virtual reality height exposure (VR-HE) stress task that has shown to reliably increase stress levels. Twenty participants engaged in two VBS scenarios and the VR-HE during separate sessions, while measurements of heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), respiration rate, and subjective stress levels were collected. Contrary to our initial expectations, analysis revealed that neither of the VBS scenarios induced a significant stress response, as indicated by stable HR, HRV, and low subjective stress levels. However, the VR-HE task did elicit a significant physiological stress response, evidenced by increased HR and HRV changes, aligning with previous research findings. Moreover, no discernible alterations were detected in cognitive performance subsequent to these stressors. These results suggest that the current VBS scenarios, despite their potential, may not be effective for stress-related training activities within military settings. The absence of a significant stress response in the VBS conditions points to the need for more immersive and engaging scenarios. By integrating interactive and demanding elements, as well as physical feedback systems and real-time communication, VBS training might better mimic real-world stressors and improve stress resilience in military personnel. The findings of this study have broader implications for stress research and training, suggesting the need for scenario design improvements in virtual training environments to effectively induce stress and improve stress management across various high-stress professions.