Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) displays an alarmingly high prevalence rate among university students, placing them at high risk for adverse long-term outcomes, including suicide.

This study aimed to achieve a better understanding of factors contributing to NSSI in university student populations by examining reasons for NSSI and histories of stressful events and coping strategies.

A total of 185 university students with a lifetime history of NSSI were assessed for depressive symptoms and NSSI characteristics. They completed three questionnaires on NSSI reasons, stressful events and coping strategies during childhood and adolescence. Each questionnaire included an ‘others’ option combined with an open-ended response box. After descriptive analysis of the closed questions, these open-ended responses were qualitatively categorised and analysed as predictors of depression severity and NSSI continuation from adolescence into adulthood.

Qualitative analysis identified eight, five and ten categories from the open-ended responses for NSSI reasons, stressful events and coping strategies, respectively, with substantial to almost perfect interrater reliability. Two qualitative reason categories, one stressful event category and two coping strategy categories significantly predicted depression severity (β = 0.21–0.23). Participants reporting events in the stressful events category ‘Traumatisation and experiences of violence’ were three times more likely to continue NSSI into adulthood (f 2 = 0.07).

This study demonstrates the value of mixed-methods approaches. Stable qualitative categories highlight the need to capture individual variations in NSSI-related factors. It emphasises trauma-related stressors due to their influence on depression severity and persistence of NSSI into adulthood.

Cognitive and behavioral factors contribute to the mitigation of stress-related health outcomes in later life. Given that stress management interventions for older adults are an important target for healthcare, there is a need for a relatively short and standardized assessment tool to comprehensively measure stress and coping in later adulthood while minimizing the burden on participants. The Stress Assessment Inventory (SAI), a 123-item measure designed to assess stress and coping resources in younger adults.

The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SAI in 294 older adults.

The SAI was evaluated on its dimensionality, reliability, and validity.

A shortened SAI is proposed for older adults, with good internal consistency and criterion validity. The Revised SAI was found to have a three-factor model that captures Adaptive Cognitive Resources, Maladaptive Behavioral and Cognitive Habits, and Adaptive Health Habits.

The current study supports the use of the Revised SAI in community-dwelling older adult populations as a comprehensive tool to assess stress and coping for use by researchers and healthcare professionals.

Traumatic experiences can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and influence one’s future perspective, which can change over time with the sense of control.

We measured changes in predictions about the future among individuals who experienced a traumatic event, with or without PTSD, according to their sense of control, and its relationship with post-traumatic change (post-traumatic stress symptom severity, well-being and coping strategies).

Eighty-one exposed individuals (who experienced the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks), some with PTSD, and 71 non-exposed controls (who had not experienced the attacks) were asked to estimate the probable future occurrence of 20 controllable and 20 uncontrollable events, 7–18 and 31–43 months after the attacks. Repeated-measures analysis of variance and correlations were performed to measure inter-group differences in outcomes and relationships with post-traumatic change.

Exposed participants with PTSD and without PTSD estimated uncontrollable future events to be more likely over time. Uncontrollable predictions were related to increases in post-traumatic stress symptom severity for individuals without PTSD. Uncontrollable predictions were not correlated with well-being or coping in exposed individuals.

Over time, exposed individuals provide increasingly high probability ratings for the future occurrence of uncontrollable events, a tendency associated with an increase in post-traumatic stress symptom severity in exposed individuals without PTSD. This may reflect potential delayed PTSD symptoms over time in individuals who did not initially develop PTSD following the attacks. The range of the measurements and the use of a self-constructed questionnaire limit the internal validity of the results.

Research on grief among family caregivers of individuals with dementia has seen a notable increase. Our objective was to synthesize the relationship between coping factors and pre-death grief (PDG).

(Prospero protocol: CRD42024560208) We conducted a systematic review of literature from PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycInfo, and Medline up to July 2024. Included studies encompassed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. During the study selection process, we excluded data on intervention effectiveness and studies not published in English. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Evidence was summarized narratively.

Participants in this study are family caregivers who take care of dementia patients.

We included data from 12 studies in our analysis. The majority of these investigations were carried out in Western countries. The research primarily involved spousal or adult child caregivers and centered on PDG. We included validated measures of PDG in each study.

Among the reviewed studies, five reported on coping strategies, while seven addressed coping resources. Overall, the findings indicated that the application of coping strategies, specifically positive coping strategies, is effective in alleviating PDG and mitigating the effects of caregiving burden on PDG. Coping resources – including self-efficacy, sense of coherence, and support from friends and family – appear to have a beneficial impact in reducing PDG. Additionally, the quality of relationships with friends and family members was found to be a significant factor. Moreover, spiritual and religious beliefs, along with community faith, have been identified as crucial elements in alleviating grief experienced by caregivers.

Knowing what coping strategies and resources are beneficial to decrease PDG experiences among dementia caregivers.

Exposure to COVID-19 messaging that conflates older age with risk/infirmity has been suggested to have negative effects on older people’s sense of personal agency (i.e., sense of capacity to exercise control over one’s life).

This qualitative study sought to determine how older adults perceived this vulnerability narrative within early COVID-19 public messaging and how this may have influenced their personal agency.

Semi-structured interviews with 15 community-dwelling older adults in Manitoba were completed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.

Study findings suggest that early COVID-19 public health messaging created associations between vulnerability and older age that increased the participants’ sense of age-related risk. As a response, many participants described engaging in certain actions (e.g., lifestyle behaviours, following public health protocols, coping mechanisms) to potentially increase their feelings of personal agency.

This study suggests that creators of public messaging pertaining to older age must be mindful of the ways that it may fuel a vulnerability narrative.

Communication is essential to medical care and is key in improving patient outcomes. We aimed to understand clinicians’ emotions when communicating with patients in palliative care (PC) and the evolution of their communication skills.

Between October and November 2021, 231 Swiss PC clinicians participated in an online cross-sectional survey (65% nurses, 35% physicians). Three questions invited participants to reflect on the development of their communication skills and on their emotions when communicating with patients in PC. Answers to these questions were analyzed thematically.

Constantly adapting to complex emotions in communication was the overarching theme. Three main themes further allowed for an understanding of different communication challenges: emotions as a dynamic compass, not always under control, and evolving comfort and competence through personal and professional growth. In evolving comfort and competence, 6 strategies helped clinicians overcome fears and improve their confidence in communication: learning by doing and formal training, integrating life experiences and gaining insight from private life, taking time, collaborating and connecting with peers, acknowledging individuality, and connecting with one’s own and patients’ emotions.

Participants described powerful emotional experiences when communicating with patients in PC, underscoring the emotional labor involved in PC communication. Our study highlights the need to re-conceptualize emotions as a valuable resource rather than a hindrance in clinical practice. The interplay between personal and professional identities in shaping communication skills, emphasizes the importance of emotional competence as a core professional skill. As clinicians often develop these skills individually, our findings suggest a need for earlier integration of emotional competence training in medical education, along with ongoing support through collaboration, and improved allocation of time resources, to enhance clinician well-being and patient care.

Persistent discrimination and identity threats contribute to adverse health outcomes in minoritized groups, mediated by both structural racism and physiological stress responses.

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of recruiting African American volunteers for a pilot study of race-based stress, the acceptability of a mindfulness intervention designed to reduce racism-induced stress, and to evaluate preliminary associations between race-based stress and clinical, psychosocial, and biological measures.

A convenience sample of African Americans aged 18–50 from New York City’s Tri-state area underwent assessments for racial discrimination using the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) and Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale. Mental health was evaluated using validated clinical scales measuring depression, anxiety, stress, resilience, mindfulness, resilience, sleep, interpersonal connection, and coping. Biomarkers were assessed through clinical laboratory tests, allostatic load assessment, and blood gene expression analysis.

Twenty participants (12 females, 8 males) completed assessments after consent. Elevated EDS scores were associated with adverse lipid profiles, including higher cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratios and lower HDL levels, as well as elevated inflammatory markers (NF-kB activity) and reduced antiviral response (interferon response factor). Those with high EDS reported poorer sleep, increased substance use, and lower resilience. Mindfulness was positively associated with coping and resilience but inversely to sleep disturbance. 90% showed interest in a mindfulness intervention targeting racism-induced stress.

This study demonstrated an association between discrimination and adverse health effects among African Americans. These findings lay the groundwork for further research to explore the efficacy of mindfulness and other interventions on populations experiencing discrimination.

As we face a future of rising global temperatures, and associated extreme weather events, distressing emotional responses are understandable. Climate scientists comprise a unique group, in that they must regularly confront the reality, and consequences, of climate change. In this paper, we explore how the principles of compassion-focused therapy (CFT) might be applied to comprehend the responses of climate scientists to climate change; by doing so, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of these responses in order to consider fruitful avenues for providing support and investigating this area further. We consider how flows of compassion, and blocks to compassion, might play a role in climate scientists’ experiences. Additionally, we conceptualise a role for compassion towards the wider world and humanity more broadly. Finally, by applying the CFT Three Systems model to current understanding of climate scientists’ emotional experiences, we seek to proffer a potential conceptualisation of them.

1. (1) To formulate the emotional experiences of climate scientists from a compassion-focused therapy perspective.

2. (2) To explore how blocks to flows of compassions serve to negatively impact and/or maintain difficult emotional experiences of climate scientists.

3. (3) To consider ways in which the field of psychological therapy can support climate scientists through a difficult emotional journey, and how future research might explore this further.

Despite advances in treatment and outcomes for paediatric heart failure, both physical and psychosocial comorbidities remain notable among this patient population. We aimed to qualitatively describe the psychosocial experiences of adolescent and young adults with heart failure and their caregivers’ perceptions, with specific focus on personal challenges, worries, coping skills, and resilience.

Structured, in-depth interviews were performed with 16 adolescent and young adults with heart failure and 14 of their caregivers. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Content analysis was performed, and themes were generated. Transcripts were coded by independent reviewers.

Ten (63%) adolescent and young adults with heart failure identified as male and six (37.5%) patients self-identified with a racial or ethnic minority group. Adolescent and young adults with heart failure generally perceived their overall illness experience more positively and less burdensome than their caregivers. Some adolescent and young adults noted specific worries related to surgeries, admissions, major complications, death, and prognostic/treatment uncertainty, while caregivers perceived their adolescent and young adult’s greatest worries to be around major complications and death. Adolescent and young adults and their caregivers were able to define and reflect on adolescent and young adult experiences of resilience, with many adolescent and young adults expressing a sense of optimism and gratitude as it relates to their medical journey.

This study is the first of its kind to qualitatively describe the psychosocial experiences of a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of adolescent and young adults with heart failure, as well as their caregivers’ perceptions of patient experiences. Findings underscore the importance of identifying distress and fostering resilient processes and outcomes in young people with advanced heart disease.