The evidence base for peer support work in mental health is established, yet implementation remains a challenge. The aim of this systematic review was to identify influences which facilitate or are barriers to implementation of mental health peer support work.

Background: Initial training is essential for the mental health peer support worker (PSW) role. Training needs to incorporate recent advances in digital peer support and the increase of peer support work roles internationally. There is a lack of evidence on training topics that are important for initial peer support work training and on which training topics can be provided on the internet. Objective: The objective of this study is to establish consensus levels about the content of initial training for mental health PSWs and the extent to which each identified topic can be delivered over the internet. Methods: A systematized review was conducted to identify a preliminary list of training topics from existing training manuals. Three rounds of Delphi consultation were then conducted to establish the importance and web-based deliverability of each topic. In round 1, participants were asked to rate the training topics for importance, and the topic list was refined. In rounds 2 and 3, participants were asked to rate each topic for importance and the extent to which they could be delivered over the internet. Results: The systematized review identified 32 training manuals from 14 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These were synthesized to develop a preliminary list of 18 topics. The Delphi consultation involved 110 participants (49 PSWs, 36 managers, and 25 researchers) from 21 countries (14 high-income, 5 middle-income, and 2 low-income countries). After the Delphi consultation (round 1: n=110; round 2: n=89; and round 3: n=82), 20 training topics (18 universal and 2 context-specific) were identified. There was a strong consensus about the importance of five topics: lived experience as an asset, ethics, PSW well-being, and PSW role focus on recovery and communication, with a moderate consensus for all other topics apart from the knowledge of mental health. There was no clear pattern of differences among PSW, manager, and researcher ratings of importance or between responses from participants in countries with different resource levels. All training topics were identified with a strong consensus as being deliverable through blended web-based and face-to-face training (rating 1) or fully deliverable on the internet with moderation (rating 2), with none identified as only deliverable through face-to-face teaching (rating 0) or deliverable fully on the web as a stand-alone course without moderation (rating 3). Conclusions: The 20 training topics identified can be recommended for inclusion in the curriculum of initial training programs for PSWs. Further research on web-based delivery of initial training is needed to understand the role of web-based moderation and whether web-based training better prepares recipients to deliver web-based peer support.

Internet addiction (IA) is widespread, comorbid with other conditions, and commonly undetected, which may impede recovery. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) is widely used to evaluate IA among healthy respondents, with less agreement on its dimensional structure. This study investigated the factor structure, invariance, predictive validity, criterion validity, and reliability of the IAT among Spanish women with eating disorders (EDs, N = 123), Chinese school children (N = 1072), and Malay/Chinese university students (N = 1119). In school children, four factors with eigen values > 1 explained 50.2% of the variance, with several items cross-loading on more than two factors and three items failing to load on any factor. Among 19 tested models, CFA revealed excellent fit of a unidimensional six-item IAT among ED women and university students (χ²(7) = 8.695, 35.038; p = 0.275, 0.001; CFI = 0.998, 981; TLI = 0.996, 0.960; RMSEA = 0.045, 0.060; SRMR = 0.0096, 0.0241). It was perfectly invariant across genders, academic grades, majors, internet use activities, nationalities (Malay vs. Chinese), and Malay/Chinese female university students vs. Spanish women with anorexia nervosa, albeit it was variant at the scalar level in tests involving other EDs, signifying increased tendency for IA in pathological overeating. The six-item IAT correlated with the effects of internet use on academic performance at a greater level than the original IAT (r = −0.106, p < 0.01 vs. r = −0.78, p < 0.05), indicating superior criterion validity. The six-item IAT is a robust and brief measure of IA in healthy and diseased individuals from different cultures.

Aim. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of a job crafting intervention program for nurses on their job crafting behaviors, harmonious work passion, and career commitment. Background. Nurses generally work in suboptimal environments with chronic low resources and high demands. Job crafting may be a cost-effective strategy to deal effectively with such environments. However, its effectiveness as a nursing intervention program remains unclear. Methods. An open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted at a hospital in Port Said, Egypt. The study enrolled 94 nurses. Participants were assigned randomly to the intervention group (n=47) or the control group (n=47). The intervention group had a 2-day workshop, 3weeks of job crafting implementation, and a reflection session, whereas the control group participated in a 1-day workshop. Data were collected at baseline, 2weeks, and 3months after the intervention in both groups by using the Job Crafting Scale, Job Crafting Knowledge Questionnaire, Harmonious Work Passion Scale, and Career Commitment Scale. Results. Compared with the control group, the intervention group experienced a higher level of job crafting behaviors and reported a greater improvement in harmonious work passion, but not in career commitment. Conclusion. Nurses can be trained on job crafting behaviors, which can lead to the maximization of job resources, optimization of job demands, and enhancement of nurses harmonious work passion. Implications for Nursing Management. Nursing managers should train nurses regularly on how to be job crafters because it is an effective tool that helps nurses deal with limited job resources and increased job demands and makes them more harmoniously passionate about their work.

Background: Delivery of recovery-oriented mental health practice is fundamental to personal recovery. Yet, there is lack of service users’ accounts on what constitutes mental health recovery in Egypt. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore mental health recovery meaning informed by people with personal experience of recovery. Methods: A phenomenological research design was used. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 adult community-dwelling individuals who identified as recovered/recovering from mental health issues. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyses participants’ responses. Results: Participants predominately reported personal and functional definitions of mental health recovery. Posttraumatic growth was the strongest theme comprising: relation to others, spirituality, new possibilities, identity & strengths, and appreciation of life. Themes of acceptance and forgiveness, functional and clinical recovery, and finding hope were also identified. Conclusions: This is the first study to explore mental health recovery meaning among a sample of people with lived experience of mental health issues in Egypt. Findings suggest that developing and implementing psychosocial interventions to support posttraumatic growth among people with mental health issues is a priority.