Objectives: In the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation, school/child care closures and employment instability have created unprecedented conditions for families raising children at home. This study describes the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on families with children in Canada. Design, setting and participants: This descriptive study used a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of adults living in Canada (n=3000) to examine the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Outcomes among parents with children <18 years old living at home (n=618) were compared with the rest of the sample. Data were collected via an online survey between 14 May to 29 May 2020. Outcome measures: Participants reported on changes to their mental health since the onset of the pandemic and sources of stress, emotional responses, substance use patterns and suicidality/self-harm. Additionally, parents identified changes in their interactions with their children, impacts on their children’s mental health and sources of support accessed. Results: 44.3% of parents with children <18 years living at home reported worse mental health as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with 35.6% of respondents without children <18 living at home, χ ² (1, n=3000)=16.2, p<0.001. More parents compared with the rest of the sample reported increased alcohol consumption (27.7% vs 16.1%, χ ² (1, n=3000)=43.8, p<0.001), suicidal thoughts/feelings (8.3% vs 5.2%, χ ² (1, n=3000)=8.0, p=0.005) and stress about being safe from physical/emotional domestic violence (11.5% vs 7.9%, χ ² (1, n=3000)=8.1, p=0.005). 24.8% (95% CI 21.4 to 28.4) of parents reported their children’s mental health had worsened since the pandemic. Parents also reported more frequent negative as well as positive interactions with their children due to the pandemic (eg, more conflicts, 22.2% (95% CI 19.0 to 25.7); increased feelings of closeness, 49.7% (95% CI 45.7 to 53.7)). Conclusions: This study identifies that families with children <18 at home have experienced deteriorated mental health due to the pandemic. Population-level responses are required to adequately respond to families’ diverse needs and mitigate the potential for widening health and social inequities for parents and children.

Evidence on the population-level mental health impacts of COVID-19 are beginning to amass; however, to date, there are significant gaps in our understandings of whose mental health is most impacted, how the pandemic is contributing to widening mental health inequities, and the coping strategies being used to sustain mental health. The first wave of a repeated cross-sectional monitoring survey was conducted between May 14-29, 2020 to assess the mental health impacts of the pandemic and to identify the disproportionate impacts on populations or groups identified as experiencing increased risks due to structural vulnerability and pre-existing health and social inequities. Respondents included a nationally representative probability sample (n = 3000) of Canadian adults 18 years and older. Overall, Canadian populations are experiencing a deterioration in mental health and coping due to the pandemic. Those who experience health, social, and/or structural vulnerabilities due to pre-existing mental health conditions, disability, income, ethnicity, sexuality, and/or gender are more likely to endorse mental health deterioration, challenging emotions, and difficulties coping. This monitoring study highlights the differential mental health impacts of the pandemic for those who experience health, social, and structural inequities. These data are critical to informing responsive, equity-oriented public health, and policy responses in real-time to protect and promote the mental health of those most at risk during the pandemic and beyond.

Background: Mental health during a person’s adolescence plays a key role in setting the stage for their mental health over the rest of their life. Hence, initiatives that promote adolescents’ wellbeing are an important public health goal. Helping others can take a variety of forms, and the literature suggests that helping others can positively impact a person’s wellbeing. However, there is a lack of data that synthesizes the impact of helping others on adolescents’ wellbeing. Therefore, this review aims to synthesize the available evidence related to helping others and to youth wellbeing. Methods: A scoping review search was undertaken with no date restrictions. CINAHL, Medline and PyschINFO, were searched for studies that analyzed the relationship between helping others and youth mental health. Results: Data from 213 papers were included in the scoping review. Three main themes were observed: (1) the relationship between helping others and mental health outcomes among youths (positive and negative); (2) factors associated with youth engagement in prosocial behavior (facilitators and barriers); (3) the impact of interventions related to helping others, and to youth mental health (positive and negative). Conclusions: An overwhelmingly positive relationship exists between youth prosocial behavior and its influence on youth mental health.

Patients experiencing concurrent disorders (i.e., co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders) are prevalent in mental health settings and their health and social outcomes are often poor. This reflects persistent stigma as well as inadequate preparatory training or continuing education for healthcare professionals, including nurses. To explore the impacts of the 1-day ‘Enhancing Concurrent Disorder Care Intervention’ on nurses’ and student nurses’ capacity to deliver care, grounded in current evidence, to patients with concurrent disorders in inpatient mental health settings. A Quasi-experimental intervention design was used with pre- and postt-test components, guided by the STROBE checklist for observational studies. Five acute mental health units across two hospitals in British Columbia, Canada, as well as two schools of nursing representing students completing clinical practicum rotations within these settings. Seventy-six nurses (Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses) and student nurses practicing in inpatient mental health care. This educational intervention was informed by a pilot study, which included content validation from international concurrent disorder experts, and further refined through collaborative processes with lived experience and nurse partners. Intervention impacts were examined using online surveys conducted prior to the intervention and within two weeks post-intervention. Surveys assessed knowledge and attitudes about concurrent disorders using a validated instrument and questions developed by the study team. Descriptive statistics alongside paired and independent t-tests and two-way ANOVAs were used to compare survey scores before and after the intervention. Findings indicate that the intervention was effective in improving participants’ knowledge and attitudes toward patients with concurrent disorders across participant groups. Enhancing care and outcomes for patients with concurrent disorders is a global priority. Brief educational interventions aimed at nurses can provide an effective, low-barrier mechanism to address knowledge gaps that contribute to harmful care and adverse outcomes.

Aim: To investigate predictors of nurses' reporting behaviours and their reasons for not formally reporting.Background: Underreporting of workplace violence (WPV) among nurses contributes to gaps in WPV prevention measures, as it cannot be fully understood. WPV is classified according to its source (Type II: patients and visitors, Type III: coworkers) and forms (physical assault, threat of assault, emotional abuse, verbal sexual harassment and sexual assault).Design: This is a secondary analysis of cross‐sectional survey data collected in 2019 from British Columbia (BC), Canada.Methods: This study had a sample of 4109 BC nurses. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse predictors of reporting behaviours. Reasons for not reporting were analysed descriptively.Results: Informal reporting to management or through a patient safety incident report was less likely when nurses experienced threat of assault, emotional abuse and verbal sexual harassment from both Type II and III sources and physical assault from Type III sources. Higher perceptions of WPV prevention efforts increased odds of informal and formal reporting through employee incident procedures. Believing that nothing would change after reporting remained among the top three reasons for not formally reporting across all WPV sources and forms. Nurses also commonly selected not knowing the formal process, lack of leadership support and other reasons stated in an open‐text response.Conclusion: Findings indicate that nurses in BC, Canada, perceive many barriers to formal WPV reporting. Formal reporting systems should address these barriers so that healthcare organisations can effectively track WPV and have data to inform WPV prevention measures.Implications: To promote WPV reporting, healthcare organisations need multifaceted interventions including confidential and simplified reporting systems, leadership support to follow‐up with nurses and education and training on reporting systems.Reporting Method: The authors of this manuscript have adhered to the relevant EQUATOR guidelines based on the STROBE cross‐sectional reporting method.Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution.

This review aims to explore the existing literature about the virtue of helping others and its association with youth mental health. Mental health of youth is rooted in their social environment. Helping others or engaging in prosocial behavior are activities that youth may participate in. The notion of helping others and its association with individual mental well-being have been well-studied for adults and older adults and to some extent in youth, however, no review has been conducted to understand the intersection of helping others and mental health in the youth population. This review will consider all study designs that examine helping others and mental health of youth. The inclusion criteria for the review will include young individuals aged 10-24-year-old, living in any geographic location, of all gender identities, and with or without mental health issues. Grey literature and studies that only speak to outcomes related to physical well-being will be excluded. A search will be conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. Studies published in the English language will be included with no restriction on publication time period. Articles will be screened against the inclusion criteria onto a single software by two independent reviewers. In the case of any disagreement, a third independent reviewer would resolve the conflict. Data will be extracted and presented in a tabular or diagrammatic form supported by a summary. We will report our findings in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The findings of this review will provide evidence-based recommendations for promoting youth mental health and a basis for future research.