@phdthesis{Scheiner2024, author = {Scheiner, Christin}, title = {Vulnerability in adolescence: prevalence, pandemic impact and prevention}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-35164}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-351644}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2024}, abstract = {This compilation focuses on adolescent mental disorders and their prevention. It comprises three distinct studies, each contributing to a deeper understanding of this critical topic. This work addresses a critical gap in the understanding of, and approach to, adolescent mental health, and as a result reveals a critically important and urgently needed policy implication for action. The thematic structure of these studies begins with an examination of the epidemiology of child and adolescent mental disorders. Baseline data were collected from N = 877 adolescents with a mean age of 12.43 years (SD = 0.65). Mental health problems, such as depressive symptoms, non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, symptoms of eating disorders, and gender differences, are thoroughly examined. Results revealed a significant portion of our sample displaying mental health problems as early as the 6th and 7th grades, with girls generally being more affected than boys. The findings underscore the importance of early adolescence in the emergence of mental health problems and thereby emphasize the need for preventive measures. Moving beyond prevalence estimates, the compilation delves into the etiology of these disorders, exploring their potential correlation with a COVID-19 infection. Understanding the early signs and risk factors is crucial for timely support. While numerous studies have investigated potential risk and protective factors during the pandemic, our focus shifts to adolescents' coping when an infection with the virus was involved (N = 2,154, M = 12.31, SD = 0.67). We hypothesized that students infected or with close family members infected, would exhibit an increased psychopathology and a decreased functioning of protective factors such as self-efficacy or self-esteem. We found no connection between infection and the mental health status within our sample, but protective factors and mental well-being were positively associated. Thus, universal primary prevention appears to be the preferred approach for promoting mental health. Lastly, the compilation introduces LessStress, a noteworthy contribution to more evidence-based prevention programs. This universal approach is designed to reduce stress in schools, accompanied by a cluster-randomized trial to evaluate its effectiveness (estimated sample size N = 1,894). Existing studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of stress prevention, leading us to introduce a short and easy-to-implement prevention program. There is positive evidence for one-lesson interventions in schools for promoting well-being and health behaviors among adolescents. LessStress is designed based on a life skills approach that not only imparts psychoeducational content but also teaches skills relevant to everyday life and directly applicable. Throughout these studies, a common thread emerges: the pressing need to address mental disorders during childhood and adolescence. These formative years play a pivotal role in the development of mental health problems. These formative years play a crucial role in the development of mental health problems. They highlight the importance of epidemiological data collection and analysis based on the latest models to develop prevention interventions that are not only effective but also reach young people on a global level.}, subject = {Jugend}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Huber2018, author = {Huber, Franziska Kathrin}, title = {Trait-Resilienz und Lebenssinn bei Patienten auf der Palliativstation}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-163982}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Trait-Resilienz und Lebenssinn von Patienten spielen eine wichtige Rolle bei der Krankheitsbew{\"a}ltigung. Ziel der Arbeit war es u.a., neue Erkenntnisse {\"u}ber Trait-Resilienz und Lebenssinn bei Patienten auf der Palliativstation sowie einen Zusammenhang zwischen beiden Konstrukten zu gewinnen. 57 Patienten des Interdisziplin{\"a}ren Zentrums Palliativmedizin W{\"u}rzburg wurden zu Beginn des station{\"a}ren Aufenthaltes (T1) zu Lebenssinn und Trait-Resilienz befragt. Eine zweite Befragung fand kurz vor der Entlassung statt (T2, n=41). Messinstrumente waren u.a. die Resilienzskala RS-13 sowie der Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluation (SMiLE). Die Patienten verf{\"u}gten {\"u}ber eine mit der Normalbev{\"o}lkerung vergleichbare Trait-Resilienz. Der Lebenssinn konnte w{\"a}hrend des station{\"a}ren Aufenthaltes aufrechterhalten werden. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Trait-Resilienz und Lebenssinn bzw. Zugewinn an Lebenssinn war nicht signifikant. Die Erfassung von Lebenssinn und Trait-Resilienz mittels validierter Frageb{\"o}gen stellt eine gute M{\"o}glichkeit dar, individuelle Bed{\"u}rfnisse und Ressourcen abzusch{\"a}tzen. Besonders vulnerable Patienten profitieren m{\"o}glicherweise von speziellen Interventionen zur F{\"o}rderung von Lebenssinn und Trait-Resilienz.}, subject = {Resilienz}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Fekete2018, author = {Fekete, Alexander}, title = {Urban Disaster Resilience and Critical Infrastructure}, isbn = {978-3-946573-13-5}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-163251}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, pages = {89}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Urban areas are population, culture and infrastructure concentration points. Electricity blackouts or interruptions of water supply severely affect people when happening unexpected and at large scale. Interruptions of such infrastructure supply services alone have the potential to trigger crises. But when happening in concert with or as a secondary effect of an earthquake, for example, the crisis situation is often aggravated. This is the case for any country, but it has been observed that even highly industrialised countries face severe risks when their degree of acquired dependency on services of what is termed Critical Infrastructure results in even bigger losses when occurring unexpectedly in a setting that usually has high reliability of services.}, subject = {Risikomanagement}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Dischinger2015, author = {Dischinger, Ulrich Severin}, title = {Auswirkungen unterschiedlicher Haltungsbedingungen auf Ph{\"a}notyp und Genexpression im Mausmodell}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-142955}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2015}, abstract = {In zahlreichen Untersuchungen konnte gezeigt werden, dass Umweltbedingungen im fr{\"u}hen Lebensalter einerseits die Entwicklung von Resilienz, d.h. Widerstandsf{\"a}higkeit gegen{\"u}ber Stressoren, andererseits aber auch die Entwicklung physischer und psychischer Erkrankungen im weiteren Lebensverlauf beeinflussen k{\"o}nnen. Dabei wird angenommen, dass sich sowohl dezidiert positive als auch in Maßen aversive Umweltbedingungen mit rezidivierender Stressbelastung g{\"u}nstig auf die Resilienz im sp{\"a}teren Leben auswirken k{\"o}nnen. Auf neurobiologischer Ebene scheinen dabei das CRH und seine Rezeptoren (CRHR1 und CRHR2), das NPY-System sowie das NPS-System (insbesondere NPS-Rezeptor) eine besondere Rolle zu spielen. Jedoch sind die exakten Zusammenh{\"a}nge und neurobiologischen Grundlagen weiterhin nur unzureichend aufgekl{\"a}rt. Dies ist insbesondere insofern bedauernswert, da weiterer Erkenntnisgewinn auf diesem Gebiet m{\"o}glicherweise Pr{\"a}ventionsstrategien und Therapieoptionen f{\"u}r den Menschen begr{\"u}nden k{\"o}nnte. Um die Auswirkung der Umweltbedingungen im fr{\"u}hkindlichen Lebensalter auf die Resilienz im sp{\"a}teren Leben weiter aufzukl{\"a}ren, wurden im Rahmen dieser Arbeit insgesamt 310 Cd1-M{\"a}use den Haltungsbedingungen "Environmental Enrichment" (EE, Stimulation durch Spielobjekte) und "Maternal separation" (MS, wiederholte Stressbelastung durch Separation der Nachkommen vom Muttertier) sowie Standardhaltungsbedingungen unterworfen. Insgesamt 31 m{\"a}nnlichen Tieren wurde im Alter von vier Wochen die Gehirne entnommen und aus diesen jeweils die Regionen Frontalcortex, Striatum, Nucleus accumbens, Hippocampus, Amygdala, dorsale Nuclei raphes und Hypothalamus herauspr{\"a}pariert. Aus den gewonnenen Proben wurde RNA extrahiert, hieraus cDNA synthetisiert und abschließend - nach Ausschluss von Kontamination und Integrit{\"a}tspr{\"u}fung - die Expressionsraten der untersuchten Gene mittels RT-qPCR quantifiziert. Um auch verhaltensbiologische Konsequenzen der unterschiedlichen Haltungsbedingungen zu erfassen, wurden außerdem 30 weibliche sowie 30 m{\"a}nnliche Tiere im weiteren Lebensverlauf verschiedenen Verhaltenstests zugef{\"u}hrt. In den Sucrose-Pr{\"a}ferenz-Tests zeigten sich Effekte der Haltungsbedingung auf Sucrose-Konsum und Pr{\"a}ferenz mit signifikant geringeren Werten der Haltungsgruppe EE. Bei der Auswertung der Openfield-Tests fanden sich Gruppen-Geschlechter-Interaktionseffekte mit signifikant geringeren Werten (Gesamtstrecke, Strecke und Aufenthaltsdauer im zentralen Bereich, Eintritte in den zentralen Bereich) der weiblichen EE-Tiere. In den Barnes Maze-Tests ben{\"o}tigten die Tiere der Haltungsgruppe EE an den meisten Testtagen signifikant weniger Zeit, um in die Escape-Box zu "entkommen". Auf neurobiologischer Ebene fanden sich signifikante Unterschiede der CRH-Expressionsraten in Amygdalae und Frontalcortex, der CRHR 1-Expressionsraten in Amygdalae und Hypothalamus sowie der CRHR2-Expressionsraten in Amygdalae und Hippocampus. Demgegen{\"u}ber konnte kein signifikanter Effekt der Haltungsbedingung auf das NPY-System gefunden werden. Jedoch ließen sich signifikante Unterschiede der NPSR1-Expressionsraten in Amygdalae, Frontalcortex, dorsalen Nuclei raphes und Hypothalamus feststellen. Es kann also grunds{\"a}tzlich von Auswirkungen unterschiedlich aversiver Haltungsbedingungen auf die Stress-Resilienz von Versuchstieren ausgegangen werden. Dies ist einerseits f{\"u}r Tierversuche allgemein von grunds{\"a}tzlicher Bedeutung. Andererseits legen die Resultate eine entsprechende fr{\"u}hkindliche "Programmierung" auch im Menschen nahe.}, subject = {Stress}, language = {de} } @phdthesis{Braun2021, author = {Braun, Alexandra}, title = {Psychosocial and somatic resilience factors of patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS)}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-24280}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-242809}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Background: In recent years, health care has increasingly become the focus of public interest, politics, health insurance companies, and research. This includes the development of therapeutic concepts that can respond individually to patients' resources in order to improve coping with chronic diseases. Research into psychosocial and biological resilience factors is very important and the basic objective of the present work. I studied patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), who suffer among others from chronic pain, fatigue, sleep and gastrointestinal problems. This patient cohort is characterized by a pronounced heterogeneity in terms of clinical outcome, degree in disability and coping. FMS has a prevalence of 3 - 8 \% in the Western population and has a significant socio-economic impact. Validated psychosocial resilience factors include optimism, humor, coherence, self-efficacy, awareness with one's own resources and the ability to apply them profitably (coping), and a healthy social environment with positive relationships. Studies in patients with cancer revealed religiosity as positive and negative factor on the health outcome, but there is little data on religious aspects of pain resilience. Various genetic polymorphisms and anti-inflammatory cytokines are known as biological resilience factors. Various microRNA (miRNA) were detected to contribute to resilience in the context of stress and psychiatric disorders. Objective: The underlying research question of this work is to understand the factors that make some FMS patients resilient and others not, even though they suffer from the same disease. The long-term aim was to understand mechanisms and influencing factors of resilience to design preventive and resource-oriented therapies for FMS patients. Material and Methods: Three studies examined religious, physiological, biological, and psychosocial factors which may contribute to resilience in FMS patients. Study one combined data of questionnaires, a psychosocial interview, and regression analyses to investigate the relevance of religiosity for coping and resilience. Study two examined variance explaining factors and defined clusters among FMS patients by their differences in coping, pain phenotype and disability. The factor analysis used variables derived from questionnaires and qPCR of cytokines in white blood samples (WBC) of patients and healthy controls. Study three assessed cluster-wise miRNA signatures which may underly differences in behaviour, emotional and physiological disability, and resilience among patient clusters. A cluster-specific speculative model of a miRNA-mediated regulatory cycle was proposed and its potential targets verified by an online tool. Results: The data from the first study revealed a not very religious patient cohort, which was rather ambivalent towards the institution church, but described itself as a believer. The degree of religiosity played a role in the choice of coping strategy but had no effect on psychological parameters or health outcomes. The coping strategy "reinterpretation", which is closely related iv to the religious coping "reappraisal", had the highest influence on FMS related disability. Cognitive active coping strategies such as reappraisal which belongs to religious coping had the highest effect on FMS related disability (resilience) and could be trained by a therapist. Results from the second study showed high variances of all measured cytokines within the patient group and no difference between patient and control group. The high dispersion indicated cluster among patients. Factor analysis extracted four variance-explaining factors named as affective load, coping, pain, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Psychological factors such as depression were the most decisive factors of everyday stress in life and represented the greatest influence on the variance of the data. Study two identified four clusters with respective differences in the factors and characterized them as poorly adapted (maladaptive), well adapted (adaptive), vulnerable and resilient. Their naming was based on characteristics of both resilience concepts, indicated by patients who were less stress-sensitive and impaired as a personal characteristic and by patients who emerged as more resilient from a learning and adaptive process. The data from the variance analysis suggests that problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies and a more anti-inflammatory cytokine pattern are associated with low impairment and contribute to resilience. Additional favorable factors include low anxiety, acceptance, and persistence. Some cluster-specific intervention proposals were created that combine existing concepts of behavioral and mindfulness therapies with alternative therapies such as vitamin D supplementation and a healthy intestinal flora. The results of the third study revealed lower relative gene expression of miR103a-3p, miR107, and miR130a-3p in the FMS cohort compared to the healthy controls with a large effect size. The adaptive cluster had the highest gene expression of miR103a-3p and tendentially of miR107, which was correlated with the subscale score "physical abuse" of the trauma questionnaire. Further correlations were found in particular with pain catastrophizing and FMS-related disability. MiR103a-3p and miR107 form a miRNA-family. Based on this, we proposed a miR103a/107 regulated model of an adaptive process to stress, inflammation and pain by targeting genetic factors which are included in different anti-inflammatory and stress-regulating pathways. Conclusion: All three studies provide new insights into resilience in FMS patients. Cognitive coping (reappraisal/reinterpretation) plays a central role and thus offers therapeutic targets (reframing in the context of behavioral therapy). Religosity as a resilience factor was only partially valid for our patient cohort. Basically, the use of resource-oriented therapy in large institutions still requires research and interdisciplinary cooperation to create a consensus between the humanities, natural sciences and humanism.}, subject = {Resilienz}, language = {en} } @book{OPUS4-32281, title = {UnSichtbar : Interdisziplin{\"a}re Stimmen zu Vulnerabilit{\"a}t, Vulneranz und Menschenrechten}, editor = {Keul, Hildegund}, publisher = {W{\"u}rzburg University Press}, address = {W{\"u}rzburg}, isbn = {978-3-95826-202-7}, doi = {10.25972/WUP-978-3-95826-203-4}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-322810}, publisher = {W{\"u}rzburg University Press}, pages = {II, 278}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Wo etwas Verborgenes, das vom {\"o}ffentlichen Diskurs ausgeschlossen wurde, pl{\"o}tzlich sichtbar wird, ereignen sich Offenbarungen. Wenn es dabei um Menschenrechte geht, so entsteht ein prek{\"a}rer Augenblick, der große Chancen und zugleich un{\"u}bersehbare Risiken birgt. Verworfenes Leben kann sich Bahn brechen; oder es wird durch schmerzliche Vulneranz erneut verfemt und zerst{\"o}rt. In Verwundungen, die an der Schwelle des UnSichtbaren geschehen, tritt die Vulnerabilit{\"a}t der Menschenrechte hervor. Das vorliegende Buch erscheint 2023 und damit 75 Jahre nach der "Allgemeinen Erkl{\"a}rung der Menschenrechte" der Vereinten Nationen. Menschenrechte sind eine gegen viele Widerst{\"a}nde und mit großen Opfern durchgesetzte Errungenschaft der Menschheit. Heute werden sie erneut zu einem verletzten und verletzbaren Gut. Daher analysiert das Buch die ambivalente Macht der Vulnerabilit{\"a}t an signifi kanten Diskursorten der Gegenwart; es legt die Vulneranz der katholischen Kirche bez{\"u}glich Missbrauch, Vertuschung und Gendertrouble frei; und es fragt nach der offenbarenden Kraft an jener Schwelle, wo die Menschenrechte in Gefahr sind. Mit Beitr{\"a}gen von Prof. Dr. Stephan Lessenich, Dr. Sabine Bauer-Amin, Florian Pistrol, Steven H{\"o}fner, Prof. Dr. Ute Leimgruber, Prof. Dr. Hildegund Keul, Dr. Andreas Heek, Prof. Dr. Peter G. Kirchschl{\"a}ger, Dr. Jutta Czapski, Prof. Dr. Ansgar Kreutzer.}, language = {de} }