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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder with lifetime prevalence of 7.8%, is characterized by symptoms that develop following exposure to traumatic life events and that cause an immediate experience of intense fear, helplessness or horror. PTSD is marked by recurrent nightmares typified by the recall of intrusive experiences and by extended disturbance throughout sleep. Individuals with PTSD respond poorly to drug treatments for insomnia. The disadvantages of drug treatment for insomnia underline the importance of non-pharmacological alternatives. Thus, the present study had three aims: first, to compare the efficiency of two relaxation techniques (muscular relaxation and progressive music relaxation) in alleviating insomnia among individuals with PTSD using both objective and subjective measures of sleep quality; second, to examine whether these two techniques have different effects on psychological indicators of PTSD, such as depression and anxiety; and finally, to examine how initial PTSD symptom severity and baseline emotional measures are related to the efficiency of these two relaxation methods. Thirteen PTSD patients with no other major psychiatric or neurological disorders participated in the study. The study comprised one seven-day running-in, no-treatment period, followed by two seven-day experimental periods. The treatments constituted either music relaxation or muscle relaxation techniques at desired bedtime. These treatments were randomly assigned. During each of these three experimental periods, subjects' sleep was continuously monitored with a wrist actigraph (Ambulatory Monitoring, Inc.), and subjects were asked to fill out several questionnaires concerned with a wide spectrum of issues, such as sleep, depression, and anxiety. Analyses revealed a significant increase in objective and subjective sleep efficiency and a significant reduction in depression level following music relaxation. Moreover, following music relaxation, a highly significant negative correlation was found between improvement in objective sleep efficiency and reduction in depression scale. The study‘s findings provide evidence that music relaxation at bedtime can be used as treatment for insomnia among individuals with PTSD.

This paper aims to investigate if a sensory intervention of moderate pressure touch of children with sensory processing disorder (SPD) affects sleep behaviours and sensory processing behaviours.

A total of 50 children, aged 5–11 years with both SPD and sleep difficulties in Israel, were randomly divided into an experimental and a control group, nonblinded. Participants in the experimental group received three weeks of nightly massage by their parents, with a baseline week on both ends. Parents filled out questionnaires reporting on sensory and sleep behaviours and filled out a nightly sleep log. Parents determined outcome goals using goal attainment scoring. The assessment tools used were the short sensory profile and the child sleep habits questionnaire (Dunn, 1999; Owens et al., 2000).

Significant improvement was found in the total and subgroup scores of sleep participation measures including sleep onset, sleep anxiety, parasomnias, sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, as well as the total sleep score (F (1,48) = 24.71, p < 0.001).

Results of this study suggest that consistent application of moderate pressure touch as advised or trained by an occupational therapist may be used in clinical practice to improve sleep participation in children with SPD.

Sleep disturbances, present in more than 90% of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients, are moderated by sex in adult MDD. In particular, slow-wave electroencephalographic activity (SWA; 0.5-4 Hz) accumulation is low and dissipation impaired. This SWA abnormality in depressed adult males does not change with age, suggesting that SWA abnormality appears at early ages. The present study evaluated sex differences in SWA in adolescents with MDD compared to healthy controls. We evaluated regularized sleep-wake schedules at home for 5-7 days, followed by two consecutive nights of sleep EEG recording. The study included 104 participants, 52 symptomatic and depressed subjects (MDD: 20 males and 32 females) and 52 healthy controls (HC: 20 males and 32 females), aged 13-18 years. SWA power and dissipation, and duration and latencies to each Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep period were calculated for each group. Results showed that SWA accumulation in the first NREM period was lower and its dissipation across the night more irregular in MDD males compared to HC males (P<0.009). By contrast, SWA was equivalent in MDD and HC females. In conclusion, as reported in adult MDD, the accumulation and dissipation of SWA was abnormal in depressed adolescents, but only in males. SWA abnormalities in adolescent MDD may relate to different depressive symptoms in females and males. These results underscore the need to develop sex-specific therapies to enhance and restore SWA in depressed adolescents.

This study aims to examine the existing literature on sleep-related interventions and confirm the intervention methods and their effectiveness led by occupational therapists.

All the relevant literature published from 2010 to June 31, 2022, in five prominent databases were searched using the five-stage review framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley.

In this review, four types of sleep-related interventions were led by occupational therapists (tool use, exercise program, sleep education and occupational-based program). When the intervention was analyzed based on its content, occupational therapists demonstrated excellent ability in interventions based on sensory intervention and lifestyle redesign.

Various factors cause sleep problems; hence, the development of individualized and extensive occupational therapy intervention methods is required.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a Qigong program on older adults in the Thai community suffering from mild to moderate depression.

A randomized controlled trial study was conducted in a public health service (PHS) center setting. Sixty-six older adults aged 60–90 years with mild to moderate depressive symptoms measured by the Thai Geriatric Depression Scale (TGDS: scores 13–24) were recruited and randomly allocated into two groups. The subjective sleep quality was assessed using the Thai version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (TPSQI). The Qigong program group was given 12 weeks of Qigong training including three sessions per week, while the control group followed normal PHS activities (singing and praying). The outcome measure was the change in the TGDS from baseline to 12 weeks.

Participants in the Qigong program group had a significantly improved TPSQI global score (p < 0.001), subjective sleep quality (p < 0.001), and sleep latency (p < 0.05) after 12 weeks of intervention, while those in the control group showed no significant difference in sleep quality. Compared with the control group, the Qigong program group reported significantly better sleep quality throughout the 12-week period. The prevalence of poor sleep quality in this population was 82 percent.

This study confirmed that the Qigong program could improve sleep quality in older adults with mild to moderate depressive symptoms as the Qigong program conferred more significant improvements than the usual program.

Based on an extensive literature review, this chapter outlines key developments in global health and research during the last century with focus on the emergence of violence and child maltreatment as international public health priorities. Violence has been known to humans for millennia, but only in the late 1990s was it recognised as a global public health issue. Every year, an estimated 1 billion children are exposed to trauma, loss, abuse and neglect. Child maltreatment takes a social and economic toll on countries. Research initiated in 1985 found child maltreatment to be associated with increased disease, disability and premature death in adult survivors. The global availability of data on child maltreatment is, however, sporadic with low validity and reliability. Few global experts have consulted and involved the survivors of child maltreatment, as the experts by experience, in their attempts to provide a more comprehensive picture of reality. Youth and adult survivors of child maltreatment are often traumatised by the experience, and it is important to use trauma-informed approaches to prevent re-traumatisation. Participatory and inclusive research on child maltreatment is only in its infancy. There is a need for more inclusive research, designed by survivors for survivors, hereby strengthening local capacity building and informing policymakers from the bottom up. This chapter reviews lessons learnt and provides recommendations for how to enhance the participation and inclusion of the experts by experience in research on child maltreatment.

Sleep disturbance is a common difficulty in the general population. It has become particularly prevalent in the context of disruption to routine brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to trial a patient-guided “sleep workbook” intervention, which was developed by multidisciplinary team members, combining principles of sleep hygiene education and cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia behavioural strategies, and to evaluate its efficacy in a mixed-methods study.

Service users of the community mental health service were invited to participate. A total of 30 service users agreed to participate. A total of 15 participants completed both the intervention and the mixed-methods survey. Four participated in the focus group. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed on the collected quantitative data. A thematic analysis was carried out of qualitative survey responses and focus group discourse.

There was a statistically and clinically significant improvement in quantity and quality of sleep following intervention. Mean hours of sleep prior to the intervention was 4.4 hours [standard deviation (SD) = 2.2], compared to 6.1 hours (SD = 2.2) afterwards (p = 0.003). Quality of sleep improved from a mean of 2.5 (SD = 2.1) to 6.1 (SD = 2.3) following the intervention (p = <0.001). Four themes were developed using the qualitative data: “under-recognition of sleep difficulties”, “ruminations”, “practical utility” and “therapeutic autonomy”.

There is a growing need for occupational therapists and clinicians to provide interventions for patients with sleep difficulties and to develop sleep management practice. This patient-guided sleep workbook may be an effective intervention for these patients.

The purpose of this paper is to make the case for bringing compassion to students in educational settings, preschool through graduate school (PK-20).

First, the author defines what is meant by “compassion” and differentiates it from the related constructs. Next, the author discusses the importance of bringing compassion into education, thinking specifically about preschool, K-12 (elementary and middle school/junior high/high school), college students, and graduate students (e.g. law, medical, nurses, counselors and therapists-in-training). The author then reviews the scant empirical literature on compassion in education and makes recommendations for future research. In the final section, the author makes specific and practical recommendations for the classroom (e.g. how to teach and evaluate compassion in PK-20).

While there is a fair amount of research on compassion with college students, and specifically regarding compassion for oneself, as the author reviews in this paper, the field is wide open in terms of empirical research with other students and examining other forms of compassion.

This is not a formal review or meta-analysis.

This paper will be a useful resource for teachers and those interested in PK-20 education.

This paper highlights the problems and opportunities for bringing compassion into education settings.

To date, no review of compassion in PK-20 exists.

Background: Family violence (FV) is a significant problem that has a bidirectional link with mental health functioning. This research aimed to investigate family violence screening and response practices in a Victorian public adult mental health service, NorthWestern Mental Health, from the consumer perspective.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional, electronic consumer survey was created, utilising the Royal Melbourne Hospital Patient Survey FV screening and response tool. Data were collected over a two-month time period, via iPad. Clinicians invited all consumers (age range 18 to 64 years) attending the service to participate on data collection days, unless any of the exclusion criteria were present: a) clinical interaction occurring in a non-confidential environment; b) acute distress/crisis; c) clinician concerns about affecting rapport; and d) cognitive impairment, known disability or diminished capacity preventing them from reading or understanding the survey questions. Categorical and Likert type survey responses were explored descriptively. All variables collected in the survey were provided, specifically the percentage of responses in each category for each question. Free-text responses were analysed using qualitative description of the text-box response content.

Results: 35 consumers participated. 47% reported being screened for at least one family violence issue on at least one occasion. 26% reported disclosing FV concerns. All those disclosing felt mildly or very supported by the clinician’s response, and two-thirds received assistance they found helpful. 9% reported wanting to disclose FV concerns but not feeling comfortable to do so. Consumers indicated that FV should be spoken about more, that receiving assistance is helpful, but that responses varied in quality depending on the discipline of the clinician.

Conclusion: FV screening rates were found to be suboptimal as unmet needs were identified. Further training and services changes are required to improve screening rates, increase client comfort to disclosure, and optimise the clinical response to disclosures.

To delve further into the phenomenon of psychological pressure on single mothers, the purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that affect the psychological state of single mothers in Vietnam.

Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) interviews were conducted and analysed with the aim of understanding the psychological state of single mothers sampled from a social group in Vietnam.

Single mothers lack direct support needed to improve their confidence, job opportunities, income levels and social status. The absence of interventions increases the psychological pressure on single mothers in Vietnam.

A future study can explore the psychological state of single mothers using a more expansive data set.

Understanding the psychosocial and socio-economic risk factors of postpartum psychological pressure in single mothers may have important implications on preventative and support measures, as well as laying the groundwork for social protection interventions and informing welfare policy-making at a national level.

Social constructs in Vietnam compound the effect of postnatal depression on Vietnamese single mothers (in contrast to their counterparts in developed Western nations). This means that researchers and policymakers need to reconstruct stigmas that cause psychological pressures on single motherhood, and in doing so, help to change the view held about single motherhood.

This study is the first to explore psychological state of mothers in Vietnam using IPA.