There is a high prevalence of loneliness among older people, especially in residential care settings. Loneliness is often accompanied by maladaptive cognitions which can affect the maintenance and establishment of meaningful social connections. This study implemented and evaluated a low-intensity Cognitive Behavior Therapy (LI-CBT) mHealth-supported intervention which targeted maladaptive cognitions in older people (≥60 years) experiencing loneliness. The three-month intervention using WhatsApp was implemented with older people in four inner-city residential care facilities. The intervention included three components: technology acceptance, psycho-education, and individualized positively worded messages addressing maladaptive cognitions. The intervention was evaluated using a randomized control design. Key outcomes were measured pre-, post-, and one month after the intervention. There were significant changes in social cognition (YSQ-SF T₀–T₁–T₂, X² = 9.69, p = 0.008) and loneliness levels (total loneliness T₀–T₁–T₂, X² = 14.62, p = 0.001), and an increase in WhatsApp usage (T₀ = 26% vs. T₁ = 60%, X²=15.22, p = 0.019). At 1-month follow-up, even with a significant reduction in WhatsApp usage, a significant reduction in loneliness was maintained. LI-CBT delivered via instant messaging may be effective in reducing loneliness experienced by older people.

Recently, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, several lockdown and stay-at-home regulations have been implemented worldwide. In this regard, loneliness has been identified as the signature mental health consequence of this pandemic. The aim of this study is to explore the associations among loneliness, hopelessness, depression, ego-resilience and life satisfaction in a random sample of young adults (N = 337) at a university in the Western Cape of South Africa. Parallel and serial mediation analysis supported the hypothesis that loneliness is associated with hopelessness, which in turn is associated with depression, and that ego-resilience mediates the association between all the negative indices of psychological well-being and life satisfaction. These findings suggest that mental health interventions that boost ego-resilience and target loneliness may help in dealing with the mental health consequences of COVID-19.

Background: Stress resistance resources, such as social support and resilience, have been found to be important in promoting psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most prior research studies have conceptualized stress resistance resource variables as having a mediating or moderating role. Cooper (2018) proposed a model of the relationship between stress and health which posits that coping resources are always present and not only invoked in the face of adversity. Thus, we hypothesize that coping resources are causally antecedent to stressors and influence well-being indirectly via the stressor. We focused specifically on school teachers due to them being at the frontlines of service provision during the pandemic. Teaching was already identified as a highly stressful profession prior to COVID-19 and disease containment measures placed additional strain on teachers who had to adapt to emergency remote teaching. Aim: The current study tests this hypothesis by examining the indirect effects of resilience on indices of psychological health via role stress. Methods: Participants (N = 355) were teachers who completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10, the Role Stress Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. An electronic version of the questionnaires was distributed to teachers via Facebook and to officials from the Department of Education, who assisted with distribution of the electronic link to the survey. Participants were mostly women (76.6%) and mean number of years in the teaching profession was 15.7. Results: Structural equation modelling results demonstrated significant direct effects of resilience on life satisfaction, anxiety, and depression, which indicates that resilience is beneficial for psychological health even in the absence of stress. Resilience also had a significant indirect effect on indices of psychological well-being via role ambiguity but not role conflict. Conclusion: These findings have theoretical implications for the understanding of the role of resilience in promoting psychological health among educators. Practical implications include an empirical contribution to education policy and information that can inform interventions aimed to promote resilience among educators.

This is the first study to examine the association between COVID-19 related variables and loneliness among young adults in South Africa during COVID-19. Participants (N=337) were university students who completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale and five selected subscales of the WHO COVID-19 Behavioural Insights Tool. The mean loneliness scores were significantly higher than previous studies in other contexts as well as studies conducted in the time of COVID-19. Correlational analysis found that greater perceived risk of infection, limited perceived knowledge of COVID-19 and lower appraisals of resilience were associated with increased loneliness. In a regression analysis, when all COVID-19 variables were considered simultaneously, only resilience, self-rated knowledge, and risk perception emerged as significant correlates of loneliness. These findings suggest that loneliness is a significant public health concern in South Africa in the time of COVID-19. It also suggests that self-efficacy and resilience can potentially be reinforced by public health campaigns that focus on enhancing COVID-19-related knowledge and preparedness.

The important, frontline role of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic has often gone unrecognized, and attention to their mental health and well-being is often only the focus of scholarly research. The unprecedented challenges that teachers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the stresses and strains associated with it have severely impacted their psychological well-being. This study examined the predictors and the psychological consequences of burnout. Participants (N = 355) were schoolteachers in South Africa who completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Role Orientation Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Centre for Epidemiological Depression Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The results of a multiple regression showed that fear of COVID-19, role ambiguity, and role conflict were significant predictors of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, while perceived infectability and role ambiguity significantly predicted personal accomplishment. Gender and age also predicted emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, respectively, and age was also a significant predictor of personal accomplishment. Generally, the dimensions of burnout were significant predictors of indices of psychological well-being—namely, depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and life satisfaction—with the exception of the association between depersonalization and life satisfaction. Our results suggest that intervention efforts to reduce burnout need to provide teachers with adequate job resources to buffer against the demands and stressors associated with their work.

Purpose: During times of crisis, and in particular during the current COVID-19 pandemic, resistance resources, such as resilience, are key to managing the negative impacts of the crisis. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 has been extensively used to assess resilience. In the current study, we examined the reliability, validity and dimensionality of this instrument using Rasch analysis, Mokken analysis and classical test theory. Using both item response theory and classical test theory provides a more comprehensive overview of the psychometric properties of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10. Participants and Methods: School teachers from South Africa (N = 355) constituted the sample for the study and they completed the following scales: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Sense of Coherence Scale. Results: Both item response theory and classical test theory provided strong evidence for the reliability and validity of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10. In addition, the analyses provided support for considering the scale as essentially unidimensional. Conclusion: The obtained results provide additional support for the reliability and validity, of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 for samples from diverse contexts.