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Animal facility personnel provide the husbandry and care of laboratory animals. We aimed to investigate their work-related quality of life, empathy and mental well-being. Participants living in Spain were contacted by email and asked to complete an anonymous online questionnaire, in which they answered the Professional Quality of Life scale, the Cognitive and affective empathy test, the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, and their perceived human–animal interaction. Participants were asked whether they were receiving psychological therapy or were taking anxiolytics, hypnotics or antidepressant medication. The study comprised 80 participants. No differences were observed related to personal or professional variables. Participants working with small carnivores reported higher total empathy, and those working with non-human primates reported higher emotional comprehension. Higher human–animal interaction was reported by participants working with small carnivores, farm animals and non-human primates. More than half of the participants reported high levels of mental well-being, positively correlated with emotional comprehension, emphatic joy and compassion satisfaction. Participants working with farm animals reported higher levels of secondary traumatic stress that was positively correlated with human–animal interaction and negatively with mental well-being. Most participants reported low–average levels of burnout, which was negatively correlated with mental well-being. The percentage of animal facility personnel in psychotherapy was higher than in the general population, and the consumption of anxiolytics was a little lower and antidepressants higher. Overall, our results indicate that animal-facility personnel who felt stress or worse mental well-being were in therapy and took medication to improve their condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: In Spain, the perceived professional quality of life among veterinarians has not been explored. Methods: Veterinarians were invited to complete an online questionnaire in which they answered the ProfessionalQuality of Life scale, theMedical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. Participants were asked whether they were receiving psychological therapy or were taking anxiolytics, hypnotics or antidepressant medication. Alcohol consumption was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and nicotine dependence was assessed using the Fagerström test; participants were asked whether they took illegal drugs. Results: The study sample comprised a total of 602 veterinarians, most of whom reported average levels of compassion satisfaction, secondary stress trauma and burnout. Emotional support andmental wellbeing influenced participants' professional quality of life. The percentage of veterinarians in psychological therapy and/or taking anxiolytics was higher than in the general population. Conclusions: A considerable number of clinical veterinarians in Spain may be suffering from work-related stress. Our study identifies salary, emotional support and mental wellbeing as important factors that affect the professional quality of life. Interventions to improve veterinary clinicians' professional quality of life should therefore focus on these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aims to validate the Nijmegen Gender Awareness in Medicine Scale, which assesses gender sensitivity and gender‐role ideology towards patients in the Spanish language for use among physicians and nurses. Background: Women are more likely to suffer pain, delays and health consequences related to low therapeutic effort. Health professionals' gender awareness may minimize such bias; however, the only instrument to assess such awareness is limited to physicians and lacks a Spanish version. Methods: After using the back‐translation method, a sample of 167 Spanish nurses and nursing students completed the instrument. In order to obtain additional validity evidence, 98 health professionals filled in gender sensitivity and gender‐role ideology towards patients' subscales and the short versions of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. Results: Gender‐role ideology towards patients correlated strongly with sexist attitudes, demonstrating convergent validity, and Cronbach's alpha coefficients showed an adequate internal consistency. Conclusions: Nijmegen Gender Awareness in Medicine Scale perfectly applies to nurse population, and this adaptation also broadens its use for Spanish professionals. Implications for Nursing Management: Nurse managers and educators can use this applicable tool to treat low gender awareness levels as a modifiable risk factor and promote a gender‐sensitive caring culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reusing materials in the field of construction is an aspect of European environmental goals that cannot be overlooked. Construction & Demolition Waste (CDW) is on the increase and its poor management contributes to climate change and pollution, thus affecting our health and wellbeing. The use of secondary materials in construction has hence been raised as a key circularity measure to reduce the impact of CDW on the environment. Consequently, citizens need to be willing to support its regulations and accept the use of those materials in buildings, particularly housing. Little is currently known about public opinion as regards the use of those materials in construction; accordingly, this study seeks to establish citizen perception in that respect, but the aim is also to consolidate an instrument and an approach with which to expand the study focus to other European countries in the future. Six hundred and five citizens of the Basque Country were interviewed for that purpose. The results show that there is a gap between attitudes and behaviour; there is majority acceptance of the circularity of construction products, but that is no guarantee that the majority of the population are going to behave in such a way to support it. Therefore, there is a clear need to work on the most appropriate methodology to promote that behaviour. The data indicate that information and awareness-raising are the most influential aspects in that regard. • Limited literature on citizen perceptions of building with recycled material. • Case study in southern Europe and proposal of questionnaire. • Increasing societal knowledge needed for accepting circularity in construction. • 90 % would benefit from knowledge campaigns by scientific and construction sectors. • All profiles, even denialist, would increase acceptance through incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are twice as likely as men to develop depression and antidepressant treatment is more frequent in females. Moreover, neuroinflammatory changes related to affective disorders differ in accordance with sex. Despite this evidence, female populations have been largely omitted from preclinical experiments studying antidepressants. The aim of this work is to analyze the potential restorative effect of venlafaxine on an animal model of depression. Female CD1 mice were subjected to chronic social instability (CSI) stress for 7 weeks, and were administered venlafaxine during the last 3 weeks of the stress period. Behavioral and physiological parameters were then analyzed. Stressed mice showed a decreased sucrose preference and increased whisking behavior, and had a lower body weight, higher plasma corticosterone levels and increased hypothalamic GR expression. They also had lower levels of 5-HT, 5-HIAA and NA and a higher KYN/TRYP ratio in the hippocampus. Moreover, CSI increased striatal IL-6 mRNA expression levels. Venlafaxine treatment reduced the striatal IL-6/IL-10 ratio and increased hippocampal GR expression, although it did not reverse stress-induced behavioral changes. In conclusion, seven weeks of exposure to CSI produced depressive-like alterations in female mice. The venlafaxine treatment regimen was found to have a modest anti-inflammatory effect in the striatum and increased hippocampal GR mRNA, although it failed to redress stress-induced behavioral disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and its prevalence is 2 times higher in women than in men. There is, however, a lack of data on sex-specific pathophysiology of this disorder. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify the biological sex differences found in major depressive disorder (MDD) in studies published in the last 10 years. We conducted a literature search using the Medline, PsycInfo, PubMed, and Web of Science databases, selecting English-language studies that included physiological measures compared by sex in addition to MDD. We identified 20 relevant studies, which consisted primarily of mixed methodology and samples. The reported physiological measures comprised a variety of serum biomarkers, gene mRNA expression, and brain activity. Findings suggest different biological patterns in those with MDD depending on sex. Specifically, women presented higher levels of inflammatory, neurotrophic, and serotonergic markers and a stronger correlation between levels of some inflammatory and neurotrophic factors and the severity of symptoms. This review provides information about possible different biological patterns for women and men with depressive disorder and may have important implications for treatment. Future research should include homogeneous samples; make comparisons based on sex, control sex hormone fluctuations and pharmacological treatment; and use consistent criteria for evaluating psychobiological changes in MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Medical research involving human subjects requires previous results obtained from animal experimentation. A team of animal caretakers, technicians, welfare officers and veterinarians (animal-facility personnel) provide the husbandry and care of animals at many institutions. Researchers, on the other hand, interact with animals only when a specific procedure is being conducted. Working with laboratory animals can bring satisfaction but it can also result in workplace stress. In this study we aimed to investigate the work-related quality of life of biomedical research professionals working with laboratory animals in Spain. Animal-facility personnel showed higher professional-quality-of-life and compassion-satisfaction scores than researchers. Perceived animal stress/pain, human–animal interaction and social support are other factors that influence professional quality of life. By job category, welfare officers/veterinarians and principal investigators reported the highest scores, whereas Ph.D. students reported the lowest, indicating that job category is a contributing factor in professional quality of life. Our study may help in designing future studies or interventions to improve workplace wellbeing of the Spanish population working with laboratory animals. Many workers contribute to the success of animal welfare and study outcomes in biomedical research. However, the professional quality of life (ProQoL) of those who work with laboratory animals has not been explored in Spain. To this end, we adapted the ProQoL scale to the Spanish population working with laboratory animals. Participants were contacted by email and asked to complete an anonymous on-line questionnaire. The study comprised a total of 498 participants, 12.4% welfare officers/veterinarians, 19.5% caretaker/technicians, 13.9% principal investigators, 20.7% investigators, 13.6% research technicians, and 19.9% PhD students. The adapted scale revealed very good reliability and internal validity, providing information about two different subscales, compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Animal-facility personnel showed higher total ProQoL and compassion-satisfaction scores than researchers; PhD students showed the lowest scores. Thus, our results indicate that job category is a contributing factor in perceived professional quality of life. We observed that compassion satisfaction is negatively associated with the perceived animal stress/pain. Participants reporting poorer compassion satisfaction also reported lower social-support scores. Overall, our ProQoL scale is a useful tool for analyzing the professional quality of life in the Spanish population, and may help to design future interventions to improve workplace wellbeing in Spain and other Spanish-speaking populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are twice as likely as men to develop depression and antidepressant treatment is more frequent in females. Moreover, neuroinflammatory changes related to affective disorders differ in accordance with sex. Despite this evidence, female populations have been largely omitted from preclinical experiments studying antidepressants. The aim of this work is to analyze the potential restorative effect of venlafaxine on an animal model of depression. Female CD1 mice were subjected to chronic social instability (CSI) stress for 7 weeks, and were administered venlafaxine during the last 3 weeks of the stress period. Behavioral and physiological parameters were then analyzed. Stressed mice showed a decreased sucrose preference and increased whisking behavior, and had a lower body weight, higher plasma corticosterone levels and increased hypothalamic GR expression. They also had lower levels of 5-HT, 5-HIAA and NA and a higher KYN/TRYP ratio in the hippocampus. Moreover, CSI increased striatal IL-6 mRNA expression levels. Venlafaxine treatment reduced the striatal IL-6/IL-10 ratio and increased hippocampal GR expression, although it did not reverse stress-induced behavioral changes. In conclusion, seven weeks of exposure to CSI produced depressive-like alterations in female mice. The venlafaxine treatment regimen was found to have a modest anti-inflammatory effect in the striatum and increased hippocampal GR mRNA, although it failed to redress stress-induced behavioral disturbances.