To carry out research with genetically modified animals, their genotype has to be assessed. A standard protocol to obtain required tissue samples from zebrafish is finclipping. However, some studies reported considerable stress induced by this protocol. We therefore assessed ventilation as a read-out for stress in zebrafish that underwent finclipping during routine genotyping in our fish facility. Our analysis could not confirm a strong increase of ventilation as had been previously reported. Instead, handled zebrafish showed ventilation rates in the range of controls that remained in their holding tanks. Additionally, we detected a slight reduction of ventilation rates up to an hour after anaesthesia in zebrafish treated with tricaine only, suggesting a prolonged protecting effect by this anaesthetic.

The current research evaluates the Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) by considering the links between measures of trait perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation and measures of social support, loneliness, and distress in cross-sectional research. A particular focus is on perfectionism and levels of social support as assessed by the Social Provisions Scale. The current study also uniquely evaluates levels of perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation in undergraduate students, medical students, and law students. The results across samples provided evidence that loneliness mediates the link between interpersonal perfectionism and distress in keeping with the predictions of the PSDM. Correlational results found robust links between loneliness and low levels of social support. Moreover, socially prescribed perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation were associated negatively with social support, and this was especially evident in terms of the facet tapping the nondisclosure of imperfections. Group comparisons of perfectionism yielded few significant differences in accordance with expectations. Levels of perfectionism tended to be lower among medical students. However, the links between perfectionism and distress were clearly evident among undergraduates, medical students, and law students, thus attesting to the vulnerability of perfectionistic students in general. Overall, the results further confirm the relevance of perfectionism in distress among students and applicability of the PSDM in various types of students.

UNASSIGNED: This study examined the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students, focusing on how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) influence mental health.
UNASSIGNED: A web-based survey was administered to 3000 university students from October 26 to 31, 2022, following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health assessments included the Japanese version of the Kessler Psychological Distress 6-Item Scale (K6) for depressive/anxiety symptoms, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-J) for distress, fear of COVID-19, and a three-item loneliness scale.
UNASSIGNED: Of the respondents, 46.9% reported depressive/anxiety symptoms, 55.4% reported distress, and 37.3% reported fear of COVID-19. Factors such as current psychiatric treatment history and reduced income (either parental or personal) were predictive of worsening depressive/anxiety symptoms, distress, and loneliness. ACEs were found to exacerbate depressive/anxiety symptoms and distress, while PCEs mitigated these symptoms, and vice versa.
UNASSIGNED: This study underscores the importance of considering both ACEs and PCEs in supporting the mental health of university students. PCEs were found to independently prevent mental health deterioration, including depressive/anxiety symptoms and distress, which may include post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, even in the presence of ACEs. Recognizing and fostering PCEs emerged as an effective strategy for mitigating mental health issues.

BACKGROUND: Now affecting one in six couples in Canada, infertility is defined as a lack of conception after 12 or more months of regular, unprotected heterosexual intercourse. Infertility is associated with immense psychological burden, particularly for individuals assigned female at birth. Yet existing psychological interventions are not specialized to this population and have been shown to be only marginally effective at relieving distress related to infertility. Thus, a new online self-directed psychological intervention was co-created with a panel of women experiencing infertility, and ultimately consisted of six 10-min video modules addressing the cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal aspects of infertility-related distress.
METHODS: In the current study, 21 women experiencing reduced quality of life related to infertility were recruited to participate in a one-arm pre-post pilot testing the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the program. Participant adherence and retention were monitored, and participants rated the credibility of the program and the helpfulness of each module as well as provided feedback on the content and format of the program. Pre-to-post changes in fertility quality of life, anxious symptoms, depressive symptoms, and relationship satisfaction were examined.
RESULTS: The program modules were highly rated by participants, with average helpfulness ratings ranging from 7.5 to 8.2/10. Two participants became pregnant and therefore stopped prematurely, 79% of the remaining participants completed all six modules, and participants reported completing 52.8 (SD = 82.0) min of homework per week. Participants perceived the intervention as highly credible and generally approved of the format, length, and speed; however, 68% of participants had recommendations for additional content to be included in the intervention. While relationship satisfaction did not change significantly over time, large pre-to-post improvements in fertility quality of life, depression, and anxiety were observed (p < .001; Cohen\'s ds = 0.9-1.3).
CONCLUSIONS: This self-directed intervention was well received and has the potential to be highly effective in reducing infertility-related distress, informing future development and optimization.
BACKGROUND: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05103982.

The study of cognitive biases in job interviews has garnered significant attention due to its far-reaching implications for the economy and society. However, little research has focused on the biases exhibited by expert psychologists serving on psychology specialization examination committees. As such, this study has conducted a comprehensive examination of biases within the specialization exam in Israel. One additional objective of the research is to assess the levels of distress experienced by examinees following the examination. Questionnaires were administered to 418 psychologists participating in the clinical and educational psychology specialization exams. The findings unveiled several noteworthy outcomes. Firstly, several biases were identified, including ethnic stereotypes, biases stemming from cognitive load, and more. Secondly, examinees who presented a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) case experienced a higher failure rate. Thirdly, a positive association was found between exam failure and personal distress and this effect was stronger for educational examinees compared to clinical examinees. The most intriguing discovery was that all biases, without exception, occurred among clinical psychologists, whereas educational psychologists displayed no biases. This outcome contrasted with initial expectations. Consequently, the present study aims to expand the existing knowledge about psychological biases and stereotypes by elucidate the reasons behind this discrepancy between the two disciplines while considering the advantages and disadvantages associated with a sense of \"expertise\" in the realm of adult diagnostics.

BACKGROUND: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expected to witness a significant increase in the burden of cancer. Contrary to Western literature, the burden of psycho-oncology is yet to be established within the MENA region. This study reviews all available evidence characterizing the psychological burden among patients with cancer across the MENA region.
METHODS: We systematically explored the PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane/CENTRAL, and Web of Science (WoS) databases for reports on the psychiatric burden among patients with cancer residing within the MENA region from January 2000 until January 2023. Raw proportion were extracted and analyzed using a random-effects model.
RESULTS: Eighty-three studies comprised of 16 810 participants, representing 14 countries, met our inclusion criteria. Across the MENA region, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and distress were 44% (95% CI, 39%-50%), 47% (95% CI, 40%-54%), and 43% (95% CI, 30%-56%), respectively. Prevalence of depression was significantly different across countries, with Palestine (73%; 95% CI, 42%-91%) reporting the highest rate while Morocco (23%; 95% CI, 7%-56%) reported the lowest. Similarly, anxiety significantly differed across MENA nations ranging from 64% (95% CI, 3%-99%) in Morocco to 28% (95% CI, 18%-42%) in Tunisia. Rates of depression and anxiety were significantly different across measurement tools but not between Arabic-speaking versus Persian/Farsi-speaking countries. Meta-regression models showed that neither publication year nor age affected the prevalence of both anxiety and depression (P = .374 and .091 for depression and P = .627, and .546 for anxiety, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: We report an abnormally high rate of psychiatric burden among patients with cancer in the MENA region. Thus, establishing appropriate psycho-oncologic interventions within the MENA region is of utmost importance.

Research has evidenced that purpose in life helps to minimise the strains of providing informal care to a significant other, but little is known about whether this psychological resource influences the paths from stressors to the health outcomes of family caregiving and through which mechanisms it can exert this protective effect. This study aimed to explore the moderating role of purpose in life on the (mediated through adaptive coping) relationship between caregiver burden and psychological distress in haemodialysis caregivers. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of family caregivers (n = 173; M = 55.9, SD = 15.6 years old) of adults undergoing haemodialysis. A moderated-mediation model was computed to explore the interaction effects of purpose in life on the path between burden and distress, having adaptive coping behaviours as parallel mediators. Results showed that purpose in life had a buffering effect on the mediated (through acceptance coping) relationship between burden and distress (index of partial moderated-mediation: bsimple = -0.029, 95% bootstrap confidence interval (CI) [-0.070, -0.002]), and that this conditional effect was lowest at high levels of the moderator (at +1SD: bsimple = 0.038, SE = 0.026, 95% bootstrap CI [0.001, 0.098]). Use of emotional support (F(1,159) = 4.395, p = 0.038) and positive reframing (F(1,159) = 5.648, p = 0.019) also mediated this path. This study expands knowledge about the modifiable internal resources through which purpose in life can help promote psychosocial adjustment to the haemodialysis caregiving process. Mental health promotion initiatives aimed at this population need to consider combining different intervention approaches to foster purpose in life and train adaptive (and flexible) coping skills.

UNASSIGNED: Smartphone addiction is an emerging type of addiction in the digital era, characterized by smartphone dependence that negatively affects human health with a wide range of psychological and physical manifestations.
UNASSIGNED: This study aimed to evaluate the detailed clinical manifestations of smartphone addiction as a delineated clinical syndrome.
UNASSIGNED: A cross-sectional study design was employed to assess smartphone addiction prevalence and its health impacts among Syrian undergraduates using the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV 2013), the Kessler psychological distress scale (K-6), and a comprehensive assessment of the clinical manifestations frequently linked to smartphone addiction in the literature. Different statistical modeling techniques were applied; a P value of < .05 was considered statistically significant.
UNASSIGNED: Of 1532 invited undergraduates, 1401 (91.45%) completed the assessment adequately. Most participants were females (59.7%) and below 23 years of age (73.2%). The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 67.80%; statistically significant smartphone addiction associations were revealed with psychological distress (P < .0001) with odds ratios of 3.308. Most screened physical manifestations also showed a significant association with smartphone addiction.
UNASSIGNED: A high prevalence of smartphone addiction was observed with a broad spectrum of associated mental and physical manifestations. As smart device addiction becomes a global health concern, combining the clinical findings reported in the related literature into one clinical identity is necessary to develop a holistic management approach for the delineated clinical syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Although breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a valuable screening tool, breast MRI testing burden was associated with cancer worry and quality of life. We aimed to develop and validate the MRI-related distress scale (MRI-DS) to assess comprehensive distress specifically related to breast MRI.
METHODS: We enrolled women aged above 18 years, diagnosed breast cancer, had MRI examination at least one time, and who could speak and read Korean in phase I and enrolled women aged above 18 years, visited outpatient clinic of breast general surgery, had undergone MRI examination at least once, and could speak and read Korean in phase II. We excluded patients who had any physical or psychiatric conditions in both phases. We recruited from a tertiary university-based hospital in South Korea between April and August 2023.
RESULTS: All 18 items had acceptable levels of item correlation (≥0.30) in the explanatory factor analysis with a four-factor solution. The fit indices for the four-factor solution model were good. The discriminant validity of the MRI-DS had a moderate correlation with general anxiety or quality of life. In the known-group analysis, those who reported MRI as the most burden breast examination had higher total scores.
CONCLUSIONS: The validity of the MRI-DS has been confirmed as a scale for measuring the specific distress caused by breast MRI. The MRI-DS is recommended to health professional to communicate with patients with MRI.
CONCLUSIONS: It can be used to assess the distress associated with MRI screening in breast cancer patients. Physician could use MRI-DS to discuss the reasons for distress caused by breast MRI screening and to address specific sources of discomfort associated with it.

BACKGROUND: Digital health technologies such as sensor systems are intended to support healthcare staff in providing adequate patient care. In the Department of Palliative Medicine (University Medical Center Freiburg), we developed and implemented a noninvasive, bed-based sensor system in a pilot study. The aim was to detect distress in patients who were no longer able to express themselves by monitoring heart and respiratory rates, vocalizations, and movement measurements. The sensor system was intended to supplement standard care, which generally cannot guarantee constant monitoring. As there is a lack of data on how healthcare professionals experience such a techno-digital innovation, the aim of this study was to explore how the multiprofessional palliative care team who piloted the sensor system perceived its potential benefits and limitations, and how they experienced the broader context of healthcare technology and research in palliative care.
METHODS: We conducted a qualitative interview study with 20 members of the palliative care team and analyzed the recorded, verbatim transcribed interviews using qualitative content analysis.
RESULTS: The sensor system was described as easy to use and as helpful support for patients, care staff, and relatives, especially against the backdrop of demographic change. However, it could not replace human interpretation of stress and subsequent treatment decisions: this remained the expertise of the nursing staff. A potential reduction in personnel was expected to be a risk of a digital monitoring system. The special conditions of research and digital health technologies in an end-of-life context also became clear. Specifically, healthcare staff were open to health technologies if they benefited the patient and were compatible with professional nursing and/or palliative care attitudes. Additionally, a patient-protective attitude and possible interprofessional differences in priorities and the resulting challenges for the team became apparent.
CONCLUSIONS: A potential digital solution for distress monitoring was considered useful by palliative care practitioners. However, interprofessional differences and compatibility with existing palliative care practices need to be considered before implementing such a system. To increase user acceptability, the perspectives of healthcare professionals should be included in the implementation of technological innovations in palliative care.