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ObjectivesTo determine the frequency of symptoms of anxiety and depression among the young caregivers of family members with cancer and their correlation with role of gender, age and socio-economic status.ResultsA total of 87.8% of caregivers were between 11 and 16 years of age, with 94.6% reported having support from another caregiver. At least 95% of caregivers reported symptoms of anxiety with a higher predisposition among females. Around 73% of caregivers had low monthly incomes followed by (22.9%) middle and (4.1%) high monthly incomes. Care givers belonging to low income groups were more likely to report anxiety and depressive symptoms (70%). Young adults 17–18 years of age reported fewer symptoms of anxiety (10.9%) than their younger counterparts. Reported symptoms of anxiety and depression decreased when the number of care givers increased—2 (67.5%), 3 (16.2%), 4 (5.4%). Increased hospital stay was associated with increased frequency of symptoms, but not beyond 5 weeks.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3740-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundSuicide is a major public health concern and one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. People with an at‐risk‐mental‐state (ARMS) for psychosis are more vulnerable to psychiatric co‐morbidity and suicide, however, there are limited data from low‐middle‐income countries. The present study aimed to identify the prevalence of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation along with sociodemographic and clinical correlates of suicidal ideation in individuals with ARMS from Pakistan.MethodParticipants between the age of 16 and 35 years who met the criteria for ARMS based on the Comprehensive Assessment of At‐Risk Mental State (CAARMS), were recruited from the community, general practitioner clinics and psychiatric units across Pakistan (n = 326). Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Social‐Occupational‐Functional‐Assessment‐Scale (SOFAS) were administered to participants.ResultsThe prevalence of depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts in the sample at baseline were 91.1% (n = 297) and 61.0% (n = 199), respectively. There were significant mean differences between groups (mean difference [95% CI]; p‐value) without suicidal ideation and with suicidal ideation on measures of MADRS (−5.47 [−7.14, −3.81]; p < .001), CAARMS non‐bizarre ideas (−0.29 [−0.47, −0.11]; p = .002) and perceptual abnormalities (−0.23 [−0.41, −0.04]; p = .015).ConclusionThese findings indicate that suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms are highly prevalent in individuals with ARMS in Pakistan. Given the pivotal developmental stages that ARMS presents, and the poor outcomes associated with co‐morbid depression, there is an urgent need to prioritize the development of low‐cost and scalable evidence‐based interventions to address psychiatric comorbidity and suicidality in the ARMS population in Pakistan.

Bullying remains a pervasive problem within the educational institutions of Pakistan. Students, especially the ones with any kind of disability are constant victims of bullying. Among the many forms of bullying, verbal bullying is the most common one. The objectives of the present study are to understand the trends of verbal bullying behavior within Pakistani Universities and to identify practical bullying prevention strategies. The study is delimited to studying only the verbal bullying that relates to the use of language to persecute, oppress or victimize people. The researcher has delimited the study to the undergraduate students of three major universities in Islamabad Pakistan: FAST-NUCES, NUST, and NUML. The present study uses questionnaires as a method of data collection. The study highlights the effects of verbal bullying on the health, well-being and also on educational career of students. This study concluded that bullying culture is common among the universities of Pakistan which is mainly reflected in the language students use. Keeping in mind the findings of the study, better strategies can be suggested to the educational institutions to deal with the bullying culture in their institutes so that students do not suffer at the hands of the bullies.

This paper examines the effect of financial market uncertainty on market returns of different countries of the world. The effect of other macroeconomic like Consumer Price Index (CPI), Real Interest Rates (R.IR), Market Capitalization (MCAP), and Gross Domestic Product per capita growth (GDPPCG).For analyzing this relationship, around 40 countries data including developed and developing countries, over the period of 10 years from 2009-2018. For analysis, Panel Least Square (PLS) was used. Fixed Effect Model (FEM) is used to check the overall strength of the model. Group correlation was also performed on overall variables to check the causal relationship between all the variables and individual regression tests are also conducted country wise to explore that how much this model is applicable, descriptive analysis for market return and uncertainty to check the moments of these variables. The overall results it is concluded that market returns are affected by the financial markets uncertainty in the long run and it is a significant variable in explaining market returns while overall test results proved a positive relationship with market returns but individual testing of this model on each country shows, more than half countries in the study have a negative relationship of financial market uncertainty with market returns. Along this, other macro-economic variables impact is also measured over market returns of the world which shows all variables Consumer Price Index, Real Interest Rates and Market Capitalization except Gross Domestic Product per capita growth have a negative relationship with the Equity Market returns.