ijerph-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

World Turbulence: Coping with Disaster Conditions

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 2139

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research (RADAR) Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba 84105, Israel
Interests: health and mental health; impact of disaster conditions on quality of life and service provision; “help” profession students and university faculty members; substance use and addiction

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
Interests: cross-cultural psychology; multicultural aspects of substance use; immigration; acculturation and substance use; quality of life among high-risk populations including university students and faculty members in disaster conditions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coping with disaster conditions is a formidable challenge for individuals, groups, communities, nations, and the international community.  Disasters come in many forms – war and the threat of war, pandemic (COVID-19), economic crisis and uncertain conditions affecting individuals, families and societies, behavioral addictions, and more.  Health and mental health issues of concern are deeply embedded in disaster conditions. 

For more than 25 years, the co-editors of this special issue have been promoting efforts of mutual concern and response to disaster conditions especially those affecting university student and faculty member health and well-being.  Their efforts have generated international partnerships that have come together in trust and respect, resilience, and resolve.

This special issue “World Turbulence: Coping with Disaster Conditions” will focus on papers that contribute useful information for policy, program development and prevention purposes associated with the health and well-being of university “help” profession students and faculty members.

We invite colleagues of various disciplines of social and health sciences, especially the “help” professions of medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, gerontology, education, emergency medical services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and other related fields of human and social intervention to submit papers. Encouragement will be given to papers associated with issues about women as students, providers and/or recipients of service resulting from disaster conditions. 

We expect cross-sectional, longitudinal, national, and/or cross-national papers, brief reports, and conference/symposium presentations relevant to this subject. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the prevalence and predictors of mental health and well-being, quality of life, resilience, burnout, loneliness, depression, substance misuse, gaming disorder, eating problems, and other behaviors affecting university students, faculty members, as well high-risk populations including older adults and people with special needs.

Prof. Dr. Richard Isralowitz
Dr. Alexander Reznik
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • young adults
  • university students
  • “help” professionals
  • disaster conditions
  • quality of life and well-being
  • COVID-19
  • war and threat of war
  • economic uncertainty, unemployment and under employment
  • mental health
  • loneliness
  • suicidality
  • gaming disorder
  • women
  • refugees
  • older adults

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Other

11 pages, 671 KiB  
Brief Report
COVID-19 Fear Impact on Israeli and Maltese Female “Help” Profession Students
by Mor Yehudai, Marilyn Clark, Andrew Azzopardi, Shai-li Romem Porat, Adi Dagan, Alexander Reznik and Richard Isralowitz
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 3968; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053968 - 23 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1329
Abstract
Background: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 fear on the well-being of Israeli and Maltese female “help” profession (e.g., social work and psychology) undergraduate students. This cross-national comparison includes factors of depression, anxiety, anger, loneliness, nervousness, [...] Read more.
Background: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 fear on the well-being of Israeli and Maltese female “help” profession (e.g., social work and psychology) undergraduate students. This cross-national comparison includes factors of depression, anxiety, anger, loneliness, nervousness, substance use, eating behavior, burnout, and resilience. The study hypothesis is that country status, even with different social–cultural characteristics including religiosity, is not a significant factor associated with COVID-19 fear impact on select behavioral characteristics of female university students. Methods: A total of 453 female “help” profession students completed an online survey from January to July 2021. Various statistical methods of analysis including regression were used for this study. Results: The mean COVID-19 fear scores were the same among Israeli and Maltese students. Resilience was found to be higher among Israeli females; burnout was found to be higher among those from Malta. Substance use (i.e., tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, stimulants, or prescription drugs) in the last month was reported by 77.2% of the respondents. No significant differences were found for previous-month substance use based on country status. Regardless of country, respondents who reported more previous-month substance use had higher COVID-19 fear and burnout scores, as well as lower resilience. Due to COVID-19, most respondents (74.3%) reported deterioration of their psycho-emotional well-being in the last month; however, no significant differences were found based on country and religiosity statuses. Furthermore, no significant differences were found for eating behavior changes and weight increase based on country and religiosity statuses. Conclusion: Study findings showed the impact of COVID-19 fear on the well-being of Israeli and Maltese female “help” profession undergraduate students. This study examined only female students; however, additional research is needed to address male students and their experiences. Prevention and treatment intervention measures aimed to increase resilience and decrease burnout, including those that can be made available on campus, should be thought about by university administration personnel and student association leaders in consultation with mental health professionals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue World Turbulence: Coping with Disaster Conditions)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop