stress

Nigeria is witnessing a significant brain drain of trained doctors, especially among trainee doctors, who emigrate to high-income countries. Low job satisfaction is a key factor driving this exodus, yet there is a paucity of research on this issue among resident doctors in Nigeria. This study aims to investigate job satisfaction and its predictors among resident doctors at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.

The study was a cross-sectional observational survey involving 176 trainee doctors across 16 medical specialties/subspecialties using a total sampling method between October 2020 and January 2021. A pre-designed questionnaire and a Generic Job Satisfaction Scale (GJSS) were used to collect data. A multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the predictor variables influencing job satisfaction.

 The mean age of respondents was 35.10 (SD 4.07). 47.7% of resident doctors had low job satisfaction. Residents with perceived stressful job environment (OR= 2.390, 95% CI [1.135 – 5.034]) and those who experienced work-related stress (OR= 2.221, 95% CI [1.134 – 4.351]) had higher odds of low job satisfaction, while those who reported reasonable satisfaction with colleagues relationship (OR = 0.234, 95% CI [0.080 – 0.684]) and income satisfaction (OR = 0.469, 95% CI [0.239 – 0.922]) had lower odds of dissatisfaction with their jobs. 

 The results of this study show that close to half of the respondents were dissatisfied with their jobs. Therefore, the government and other health policymakers must address the extrinsic factors identified to stem the tide of brain drain among Nigerian resident doctors.

Stress-induced hyperglycemia, also known as stress hyperglycemia, occurs after severe stress on the body, such as surgery. Awareness of this condition and its management are essential to reducing complications and mortality in patients after general surgery. This study aimed to review studies conducted on stress hyperglycemia in patients who underwent general surgery.

This review study investigated the outcomes and management of stress hyperglycemia in general surgery patients. From 2014 to 2024, the keywords “stress hyperglycemia” and “general surgery” were searched in the PUBMED, ELSEVIER, and CENTRAL databases.

The incidence of stress hyperglycemia varies between studies but often occurs in more than 20% of patients. Compared with diabetic patients undergoing general surgery, patients with stress hyperglycemia have more severe rates of complications and mortality. Complications of stress hyperglycemia include infection, necrosis, organ damage, and mortality. Stress hyperglycemia can also increase the length of hospital stay.

The results of this study showed that stress hyperglycemia was common in people who had general surgery and was linked to a higher risk of complications and death compared to patients who did not have hyperglycemia or diabetes.

Infant pain is the most stressful experience for parents. Additionally, the changing role of parents in protecting the baby and their lack of knowledge on how to help their child in the intensive care unit (ICU( is another source of stress for parents.

The present study aimed to investigate parents’ perspectives on pain management and its association with the stressors experienced by parents of newborns hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

This research is a descriptive correlational study. A convenience sampling method was used for the selection of 180 participants. Data collection tools included a demographic characteristics questionnaire, the Parental Stressor Scale (PSS), and the Pain Questionnaire for Neonatal Intensive Care. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by Khoy University of Medical Sciences, Khoy, Iran, and reliability was α = 0.83. Pearson’s correlation, chi-square, and analysis of variance tests were used for data analysis.

Findings indicated a significant difference among subscales of parental stressors (P = 0.047). According to parents’ views, the mean pain score felt by the infant was 3.74 ± 3.03. There was a significant relationship between the maximum amount of pain during the admission of the newborn and parental stress (r = 0.43, P < 0.01). Also the findings show significant relationship between worrying about urgent medical problems when the baby has pain (P = 0.04), receiving information about pain (P = 0.04), use pain relief methods (P = 0.05), reducing the baby’s pain with medication (P = 0.003), supporting the staff (P = 0.05), and being next to baby when it is in pain (P = 0.03) with parental stressors in NICU.

The results of this study indicated that pain is one of the sources of parental stress in NICUs. Educating parents on the symptoms of infant pain and involving them in pain management can help reduce parental stress.

The COVID-19 pandemic threatened human health from March 2020 to June 2021. The need to maintain social distancing, school closures, online education, and spending a lot of time on the internet made students addicted to the Internet, which endangered their mental health. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of internet addiction and its relationship with anxiety, stress, and depression in high school students in Shahrekord.

The present cross-sectional study examined 420 female and male students who were selected from high schools in Shahrekord city from 2020 to 2021. This study used a two-part questionnaire, including demographic information, and the Yang Internet Addiction Test (YIAT) to investigate internet addiction status. The 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was utilized to investigate depression, anxiety, and stress in students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In terms of the prevalence of internet addiction among students during the COVID-19 pandemic, 76% did not have an internet addiction, 22.3% were prone to internet addiction, and 1.7% had severe internet addiction. The mean anxiety, stress, and depression scores in students addicted to the internet were significantly higher than normal users (P<0.001). There was no significant relationship between internet addiction and gender, education level, job, and parents’ education (P>0.05).

Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the provision of time for excessive use of the internet by students, interventional measures and teaching the correct and planned use of the internet seem essential to maintain the students’ health.

This study assessed the effect of the number of short implants on stress and strain distribution in bone in the posterior mandible using finite element analysis (FEA).

The study design utilized FEA, a computational technique. In FEA models, short implants (4 mm diameter and 6 mm length) were placed at the site of the mandibular first premolar to the second molar in four models:(I) two implants at the sites of teeth #4 and #7 with two pontics at the sites of teeth #5 and #6, (II) three implants at #4, #5, and #7 with one pontic at #6, (III) three implants at #4, #6, and #7 with one pontic at #5, and (IV) four implants at #4, #5, #6, and #7 with no pontic. A 100 N load was applied vertically and at a 30° angle to the occlusal surface of the crowns. Stress and strain distribution patterns in bone were evaluated using ANSYS Workbench.

The highest maximum von Mises and shear stress and strain values under vertical and off‑axial loadings were observed in the model with two short implants at the sites of teeth #4 and #7 with two pontics at the sites of teeth #5 and #6. In general, the highest stress and strain values were recorded following the application of off‑axial loads compared to vertical loads. In all models, the highest stress was noted in the cervical part of the implants, while the maximum strain occurred in the apical part of the implants.

Increasing the number of short implants significantly reduces stress and strain values in peri‑implant bone.

This randomized and controlled pre- and post-test experimental study investigated the effects of a nonviolent communication education program on empathy, interpersonal relationships, stress, and resilience among Korean nursing students.

We included 51 Korean nursing students from a university in Busan Metropolitan City, Republic of Korea, with 26 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. Data were collected from May to August 2024, and the nonviolent communication education program was conducted for 8 hours daily. To confirm program effectiveness, the participants were asked to practice nonviolent communication during the 5 weeks of participation in the program, and a reflection journal was to be written daily. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, χ2-tests, independent t-tests, and a repeated-measures analysis of variance.

The over-time change in empathy and interpersonal relationship scores in the experimental group was significantly different from those in the control group (F=8.540, P<0.001 and F=3.654, P=0.029, respectively). However, the over-time change in stress and resilience scores in the experimental group was not significantly different from those in the control group (F=0.366, P=0.851 and F=0.256, P=0.775, respectively).
Education program

The nonviolent communication education program was effective in promoting empathy and interpersonal relationships among nursing students. However, its effects on stress and resilience were not significant. Periodic implementation of the program coupled with stress-relief strategies may be effective. A long-term program must be implemented to verify changes in nursing students’ self-understanding. Moreover, further research is needed on the sustainability of the program’s effects.

Three physiological processes interact: sleep, learning, and stress. It is essential to understand how stress affects and interacts with the link between sleep, learning, and memory since it has long been recognized that sleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation and learning. Through naloxone injection in the Baso Lateral Amygdala (BLA), this study intends to shed light on the interactions between stress, learning, and sleep, as well as the function of the opioid system and its impact on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) production in the hippocampus.

Male Wistar rats (n=77) in eleven groups were implanted with electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) recording electrodes, and the BLA area was bilaterally cannulated. Recordings of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep and wakefulness steps were made for the three hours prior to and three hours following the implementation of the immobility stress protocol and learning with the Barnes maze for three consecutive days. Also, the animals’ memory was tasted 48 hr later. Before the stress and learning procedure, naloxone was injected into each BLA three times in a row at a dosage of 0.05 μg or 0.1 μg in a volume of 0.5 μl. A molecular biomarker of learning and stress, BDNF, was also examined.

The study demonstrated that the immobility stress model lowers REM and NREM sleep. On the other hand, putting the learning technique into practice results in more REM and NREM sleep, and stress situations do not stop this rise after learning. Naloxone injections in the BLA region also enhance learning and memory, preventing stress-related REM and NREM sleep loss. Additionally, stress lowers BDNF expression in the hippocampal region. BDNF expression rises in the hippocampus throughout the learning process, and naloxone administration in the BLA area also raises BDNF expression in the hippocampus.

Stress generally reduces REM, NREM, and BDNF expression in the hippocampal region. Under stress, using the learning protocol increases REM, NREM sleep, and BDNF. Naloxone injection in BLA improves memory and learning, reducing stress-induced memory loss.

Environmental stressors such as heat, cold, or natural enemies may alter insect genetics, behavior, morphology, or physiology, increasing their offspring's survival. Special traits and variations in population characteristics of insects enhance their resistant genotypes and can lead to adaptation to stressors under local conditions. Insects' reactions to stressors, such as toxins, plant defense toxicants, or insecticides, trigger internal hormonal secretions. Changes in host plants or feeding on blood produce metabolic stress and neural signal responses in insects. Mild stress is often tolerated by insect pests. Continued stress may activate the neuroendocrine system and produce hormones that defend against stress, increasing the pest's tolerance. Mimesis and camouflage in insects are evolutionary responses to escape the stresses of natural enemies. Fluctuating asymmetry and morphological changes in pest populations are also caused by stress. The reaction of cells to stress involves cytogenetic changes and the formation of various proteins through genetic signals that affect cell energy acquisition. In this article, we discuss the effects of stress on a few species of medically important insects and how pests cope with stress factors that affect their biology.

Stress is an important psychosocial factor responsible for the hypertension. Globally, university employees reported a high prevalence of hypertension, and perceived stress; however, in Indian context, as few studies documented this association, we conducted a study documenting the prevalence of hypertension and perceived stress among employees of Solapur University.

A cross-sectional study was conducted during June – September 2022 to screen 231 university employees for hypertension following International Society of Hypertension guidelines. Perceived psychological stress was assessed with Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale. Chi-square test and both univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to evaluate the hypotheses. The significance level for the p-value was set at ≤0.05, and statistical analysis was conducted using Stata 12.1. 

The overall prevalence of hypertension was 39%. More than half of employees (54%) were under moderate to high levels of stress, and they were more likely to be hypertensive than those under low stress. Staff with more than 30 years and in non-teaching posts were about two times more at higher risk of hypertension, and male staff, and those having moderate to high-stress levels were 2.5 times more likely associated with the risk of hypertension as compared to others.

University employees are under high levels of stress which are prone to developing hypertension. There is a need to screen more and more Indian university employees for the presence of hypertension and stress to design appropriate hypertension prevention programmes.

 Congenital and acquired heart diseases in children can have profound impacts on the mental health of mothers, particularly in terms of anxiety, stress, and depression. This study aims to compare and examine these psychological factors in mothers of children with heart diseases, distinguishing between those who require medication and those who do not.

This comparative study includes a sample of mothers with children suffering from congenital and acquired heart diseases, divided into two groups: the first group includes mothers of children who require medication, while the second group includes mothers of children who do not require medication. Data were collected using reliable questionnaires for stress, anxiety, and depression (DASS-21). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software and appropriate statistical tests, such as independent t-tests and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

The findings of this study indicate that mothers of children requiring medication reported significantly higher levels of anxiety, stress, and depression compared to mothers of children who do not require medication. Specifically, anxiety and stress levels in the group of mothers with children suffering from heart diseases requiring medication were significantly higher (p < 0.05).

This study indicates that mothers of children with heart diseases, particularly those whose children require medication, are at a higher risk of experiencing anxiety, stress, and depression. These findings highlight the need for targeted policies and support programs for this group of mothers.

Diagnosing children's cancer can cause significant disruptions in the child and family life, putting parents and children at risk for psychosocial problems, including reduced quality of life through increased anxiety, stress, and depression, which necessitates solutions like emotion-focused therapy (EFT) to reduce complications. This research investigated the effectiveness of EFT in reducing anxiety, stress, and depression in couples with children with cancer.

The research used a semi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest design, control and experimental groups, and a three-month follow-up. The statistical population of the study included 40 couples with a child with cancer in Ferdous City. The collected data were analyzed utilizing inferential statistics and a step-by-step regression analysis under the normality assumption. Data were analyzed using statistical techniques (descriptive, inferential) and SPSS22. The research hypotheses were investigated utilizing ANCOVA and MANCOVA.

With the pretest control of the test significance levels, there was a significant difference between the couples with a child with cancer in the experimental and control groups concerning anxiety, stress, and depression reduction (P<0.001, F-5.299). The respective differences of 19.78, 20.50, and 44.67 for anxiety, stress, and 44.67 for depression highlight the significant effect of EFT on anxiety, stress, and depression of the experimental group at a 95% confidence level and p<0.05.

EFT affects and reduces the anxiety, stress, and depression of couples with children with cancer. The emotion-based developed package created a safe space to resolve past wounds and increase awareness, expression, and acceptance of repressed emotions, leading to a new meaning for life and adjusting the disease through a different perspective toward emotions caused by mental turmoil and anxiety.

One of today's social problems is behavioral abnormalities and aggression and ways to deal with it. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and cognitive behavioral therapy on the attention and aggression of high school students in Kerman.

With a control group, this semi-experimental study administered tests before and after the intervention. All 45 male and female students enrolled at Kerman's second-year secondary school were included in the statistical population. Fifteen of them were allocated at random to one of three groups: control, experimental group 1, or group 2. The first group had 18 45-minute NLP sessions, whereas the second group received 6 60-minute CBT sessions. None of the interventions were given to the control group. The data was collected using the DASS-21 scale.

Compared to the control group, the educational groups that focused on cognitivebehavioral approaches and natural language processing had lower average indices of mental health evaluation. Students' anxiety and stress levels were significantly reduced after receiving instruction in both techniques, according to multivariate variance analysis. Comparing the three groups' matched results from the follow-up test, there was no difference in statistical significance in anxiety reduction between the two methods; however, there was a significant difference in lowering stress and depression, with the NLP method showing greater efficacy.

cognitive-behavioral training is an effective method in increasing the mental health of students and this intervention can be used to improve academic performance in clinics and school health.

Despite the prevalence of unintended pregnancies, little is known about the connections between psychosocial and sociodemographic characteristics. This study explored the predictors of fetal attachment, worry, anxiety, and stress in unintended pregnancies.

This descriptive, cross‑sectional study was conducted on 229 father and mother pairs from two primary healthcare centers in Fars province in southern Iran. Data were collected in a face‑to‑face survey using the Parents Fetal Attachment Scale, Spielberger State‑Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Cambridge Worry Scale (CWS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Parental Worry Scale. The participants were selected using the two‑stage random cluster sampling method from November 2022 to February 2023. Data were analyzed in SPSS software using binary logistic and multiple linear regression tests.

According to the findings, education level and previous parenting experience were found to have a statistically significant effect on the attachment levels of mothers (F4,224 = 5.14; p < 0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the perceived stress of mothers and fathers (p > 0.05). Previous parenting experience significantly affected mothers’ anxiety (odd ratio: 3.20; p < 0.05). The age variable had a significant relationship with the mothers’ perceived stress (p < 0.05).

According to the results, unwanted pregnancy had a significant relationship with fetal attachment, anxiety, stress, and worry. It is recommended that to enhance the mental health of couples who have experienced unintended pregnancy, a platform should be provided for the development of their psychosocial environment.