A Latvian version of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) was completed by 229 Latvian university students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed six relatively independent factors labeled Magical Abilities, Psychokinesis, Traditional Religious Belief, Superstition, Spirit Travel, and Extraordinary Life Forms. Based on the motivational-control model, it was hypothesized that the societal stressors affecting Latvian society during the last 50 yr. have led to a reduced sense of personal control which, in turn, has resulted in increased endorsement of paranormal beliefs to re-establish a sense of control. The motivational-control hypothesis was not supported. Results indicated that (except for Traditional Religious Belief in women), the majority of these students were disbelievers in paranormal phenomena. As hypothesized, Latvian women reported significantly greater paranormal belief than men.

Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the health care system. Front-line health care workers (HCWs) are at a higher risk of mental health adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of the symptoms of depression and anxiety and associated demographic and occupational factors among front-line HCWs in Latvia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study was performed in a population of HCWs during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia. The participants were interviewed between 28 April 2020 and 2 June 2020. Answers from 864 HCWs were obtained. The participants reported their demographics, work-related information, contacts with COVID-19-positive patients and completed two standardised questionnaires that assessed the symptoms of anxiety (GAD-7) and depression (PHQ-9). The gathered data were analysed by a chi-squared test and binary logistic regression. The data analysis was performed using SPSS v25. Results: A total of 209 (24.8%) participants had depression symptoms and 145 (17.2%) had anxiety symptoms. Health care workers older than 50 had a lower risk of both depression (OR 0.422 (95% CI, 0.262–0.680)) and anxiety (OR 0.468 (95% CI, 0.270–0.813)). General practitioners had more frequent symptoms of depression and anxiety than participants who worked at hospitals (32.8% (n = 63) versus 19.4% (n = 73) and 27.1% (n = 52) versus 10.3% (n = 39), respectively (p = 0.037; p < 0.000)). Working more than 48 h during the week was associated with a higher risk of depression (OR 2.222 (95% CI, 1.315–3.753)) and anxiety (OR 2.416 (95% CI, 1.272–4.586)). Conclusions: The vulnerability of the health care system before the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant mental health adverse outcomes of HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia. A further cohort study is needed to evaluate the dynamics of mental health and other predisposing factors of HCWs.

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Abstract. It has been found, that despite the improvement of the objective health indicators, people's subjective perception of health is that health indicators are getting worse (Barsky A.J., 1988), which is one of the reasons why a new term "modern health worries" is coming into use in medical literature (Petrie K.J., Wessely S., 2002). People are worried and scared of the effect of new high tech innovations (effect of cell phone radiation, environmental pollution, ozone layer depletion, etc.), changes in manufacturing of food products (genetically modified food, food concentrates etc.). Nowadays, many people, being worried about their health, turn to new eating habits (veganism), defend themselves against various innovations in the health system (vaccination), etc. It could be defined as fear of consequences of scientific progress. The reason of fear is not only the misunderstanding of scientific innovations. Quite often, it is a belief in pseudoscientific theories (for example, "conspiracy") or belief in the paranormal phenomena (karma violations, disruption of the cosmic plan). In a part of cases protesters against vaccines and genetically modified food belong to new religious movements which are based on belief in the paranormal and magical thinking. Magical thinking predisposes to the negative attitude towards scientific assumptions and innovations, like a genetically modified food (Saher, 2006).Aim of study. To study the correlation between pseudoscientific assumptions, belief in the paranormal and modern health worries. This condition of modern health worries is becoming important for health care system. It causes the increase in the number of symptoms (Koteles et al., 2011), which, in its turn, increases the doctors' visit rate on one hand (Rief W et al., 2012), but, on the other hand, increases evasion to attend traditional medical care activities. Part of supporters of pseudoscientific beliefs experiences anxiety as to the bad food toxins accumulating in the body and undertake unnecessary procedures, like an excessive detoxication of the body by means of enema. Some are of the opinion that meat promotes aggressiveness, while different esoteric theories advise to develop peacefulness and altruism. Consumption of meat can be addressed to as an offense against cosmic morality and karma. Part of supporters of pseudoscientific theories considers scientifically-educated doctors as wreckers, the disinterested, persons who are financially interested in orders of commercial firms and therefore entrust the treatment of even serious diseases to alternative medicine specialists (SKDS, 2012). Turning to unconventional, magical medicine is promoted also by the fact, that part of the people who believe in the magic, view the "healing energy" as being more "natural" and harmless. Functional somatoform disorders, due to modern health worries, can also be "healed" by specialists of unconventional medicine. Since the emotional factors are decisive in the etiopathogenesis of these symptoms, the unconventional medical ap...

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