Associations of home confinement during COVID-19 lockdown with subsequent health and well-being among UK adults

The roles of stress mindset and personality in the impact of life stress on emotional well-being in the context of Covid-19 confinement: A diary study

Previous studies indicate that COVID-19 confinement has led to an increase in psychological distress and a decrease in overall well-being. This longitudinal study aims to investigate how stress mindset and personality traits moderate the impact of life stress on the development of emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic confinement. Our study collected daily life stress and emotions data from 134 participants over 14 consecutive days using the diary method. We used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyze the data, examining within-person and between-person effects. Life stress predicted moderate increases in positive emotions and strong increases in negative emotions over time. A stress-is-enhancing stress mindset was associated with greater positive emotions at baseline and mitigated the link between life stress and negative emotions. Among the Big Five personality traits, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with higher baseline levels of positive emotions. Agreeableness and conscientiousness mitigated the link between life stress and negative emotions. Neuroticism was associated with higher baseline levels of negative emotions and moderately mitigated the link between life stress and positive emotions. The interaction between neuroticism and stress-is-enhancing mindset predicted greater negative emotions and mitigated the link between life stress and positive emotions. In contrast, the interaction between stress-is-enhancing mindset and the other four personality traits mitigated the positive link between life stress and negative emotions. Overall, these findings suggest that life stress from confinement leads to a decrease in daily emotional well-being as the confinement prolongs. Personality traits-agreeableness, conscientiousness, and a stress-is-enhancing stress mindset-act as protective roles in mitigating life stress' effect on reduced emotional well-being over time. The findings advance our knowledge in understanding the roles of personality traits and stress-is-enhancing mindset in explaining the heterogeneity in the impact of life stress on emotional well-being.

Engagement with Nature and the Home Environment: Wellbeing and Proenvironmental Behavior among Irish and Italian University Students during the COVID-19 Emergency

Growing evidence shows that exposure to nature and psychological engagement with nature improve health and wellbeing and promote greater proenvironmental engagement. The unprecedented situation created by COVID-related lockdowns seems to have brought both potential distress with household confinements and greater research on experiences in nature. University students may have been particularly impacted as the quality of their home arrangements can vary substantially. The aim of the study was to examine how psychological engagement with nature (nature connectedness and noticing nature), time spent in nature, and household conditions relate to psychological wellbeing and proenvironmental behavior among university students. An online survey was administered to a sample of 566 university students from Italy and Ireland. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed to investigate the relationships between variables. The results indicate that time spent in nature and psychological engagement with nature in terms of nature connectedness and noticing nature were associated with increased wellbeing and pro-nature-conservation behavior, controlling for demographic covariates. Moreover, the perception of chaos in one's household was related to decreased wellbeing during the prolonged COVID-19 emergency. The findings highlight the need to invest in accessible natural places for students and to focus campus sustainability practices on encouraging nature connectedness to promote wellbeing and proenvironmental engagement.

Moderation effects of loneliness between fatalism and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has put more than just our physical health at risk. Due to containment measures, people have become increasingly isolated and have drastically reduced their daily social interactions. Many studies have already shown the negative effects of these measures, including fatalism. However, research linking fatalism during COVID-19 to well-being indicators is still limited. The goal of this study is to examine the relationship between COVID-19-related fatalism and well-being indicators, as well as the role of loneliness in moderating this relationship. Data was collected from 1,036 adults in Peru through an online survey that included the Quality-of-Life Index, the Fatalism Facing COVID-19 Scale, the Loneliness Scale, and the Mood Assessment Scale. Three models were tested using linear regression and ordinary least squares with bias-corrected bootstrapping. The results indicate that fatalism has a negative impact on quality of life and a positive effect on negative affect, and loneliness moderates both relationships, supporting the conclusion that fatalism exacerbates the effect of well-being indicators and negative affect.

The road to postpandemic recovery in the USA: a repeated cross-sectional survey of multidimensional well-being over two years

OBJECTIVES

Examine differences in multidimensional well-being from before (January 2020) to three timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020, January 2021, January 2022).

STUDY DESIGN

Repeated cross-sectional design.

METHODS

Nationally representative cross-sectional cohorts of US adults completed the Secure Flourish Index before (January 2020 cohort: N = 1010) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020 cohort: N = 3020; January 2021 cohort: N = 3366; January 2022 cohort: N = 2598). We estimated differences in indicators, domains, and composite well-being between the January 2020 cohort and each of the subsequent cohorts. We also explored whether changes in well-being between January 2020 and January 2022 varied based on age, gender, and race/ethnicity.

RESULTS

Initial declines in well-being observed by June 2020 were largely followed by a return to prepandemic levels in January 2022, with some exceptions. Notably, general declines in mental health have persisted through to January 2022. On the other hand, there was evidence of general improvements in character & virtue that exceeded prepandemic levels in January 2022. Young adults and racial/ethnic minorities reported lower financial & material stability in January 2022 compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

Although there are promising signs that the well-being of US adults has mostly recovered to prepandemic levels, a coordinated response is urgently needed to support population mental health and the financial security of vulnerable groups. As society continues the journey toward postpandemic recovery, continued tracking of multidimensional well-being will be important for making informed decisions about public health priorities.

COVID-19 Pandemic Control Measures and Their Impact on University Students and Family Members in a Central Region of Spain

The first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic were times of great change in the lives of university students and their families in Spain. The aim of this study was to explore the psychosocial aspects and preventive measures carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic by students and family members of the nursing degree students of the University of Valladolid (Spain). The number of people surveyed was 877, by means of an ad hoc questionnaire. Relationships between variables were established by means of the Chi-square test and Student's t-test. In addition, multivariate logistic regression was generated. The significance level used was 0.05. Students and family members maintained preventive measures= such as hand washing, correct use of masks =in closed places, avoiding crowds and maintaining social distance, but at low rates (close to 20% in all cases). Regarding psychosocial aspects, 41.07% of the participants suffered from anxiety and loneliness, while 5.2% needed to take drugs to reduce anxiety or sleep and 66.07% were dependent on technology. Suicidal behavior is related to stress, anxiety, loneliness, poor family relationships, psychotropic drug use and technology abuse. The pandemic has caused life changes in university students and their families at the psychosocial level, generating high figures of suicidal ideation regardless of age. Preventive measures adopted to control the pandemic have not been followed for the most part.

Avoidance of fitness or sports facilities during a lockdown: Gender and training environment could be protective factors

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, claiming nearly seven million lives by now. Despite a decline in the mortality rate, in November 2022, the virus-linked death cases still exceeded 500 every day. There is a belief that it is over now, but similar health-crisis situations may re-occur, and therefore it is essential to learn from such human disasters. It is an accepted fact that the pandemic has changed people's lives worldwide. One specifically and significantly affected life domain, especially during the lockdown, is the practice of sports and planned physical activities. Hence, this study examined the exercise practices and attitudes towards attending fitness facilities in 3053 working adults during the pandemic, along with the differences associated with the preferred training environment, including fitness/sports facilities, home, outdoor, or their combinations. The results revealed that women (representing 55.3% of the sample) are more precautious than men. Further, exercise behavior and COVID-19 attitudes broadly vary among people choosing different training venues. In addition, age, exercise frequency, place of exercise, fear of infection, flexibility in training form, and desire to exercise freely are predictors of non-attendance (avoidance) of fitness/sports facilities during the lockdown. These results expand earlier findings to exercise settings, suggesting that women are more precautious than men in the exercise context too. They are also the first to indicate that the preferred exercise environment entails attitudes that shape exercise patterns and beliefs associated with the pandemic differently. Therefore, men and regular fitness center attendees need more attention and special guidance in enforcing legislative prevention measures during a health crisis.

Time-varying associations between loneliness and physical activity: Evidence from repeated daily life assessments in an adult lifespan sample

Physical activity is a behavior that promotes physical and mental health; yet physical activity has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. To promote health during times of challenge, it is important to identify potential barriers to this key health behavior, such as loneliness. This brief report extends previous research on physical activity and loneliness that mainly focused on between-person differences to examine their time-varying associations at the within-person level using repeated daily life assessments. From April 2020 to August 2020, data were collected from a sample of 139 community-dwelling Canadian adults (M _age = 40.65 years, SD = 18.37; range = 18-83 years). Each evening for 10 consecutive days, participants reported their loneliness, number of steps, and minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Results revealed that, in line with our hypotheses, on days when participants reported more loneliness they also engaged in less moderate-to-vigorous physical activity than on less lonely days (estimate = -0.24, p = 0.007); there was a significant negative association between loneliness and daily number of steps (estimate = -18.42, p = 0.041). In contrast, at the between-person level, overall loneliness was not associated with overall physical activity engagement after accounting for within-person differences and control variables (age, sex, day in study). From an intervention perspective, our findings suggest that it is promising to tackle loneliness on a day-to-day basis to increase physical activity one day at a time. This may be especially relevant during times mandating social-distancing, but also at other times when individuals experience greater feelings of loneliness.

The mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Mental health (MH) problems among healthcare workers (HCWs) have the potential to impact negatively on the capacity of health systems to respond effectively to COVID-19. A thorough understanding of the factors that degrade or promote the MH of HCWs is needed to design and implement suitable intervention strategies to support the wellbeing of this population.

RECENT FINDINGS

MH problems among HCWs were elevated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Accumulating evidence indicates that this public health crisis has had a disproportionately negative impact on the MH of specialised populations, including HCWs. Literature from prior health pandemics suggests that the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the MH of HCWs are likely to persist in the aftermath of the public health crisis. Primary and secondary risk factors for adverse MH outcomes have been identified and should be considered when implementing interventions to protect the MH of HCWs.

SUMMARY

The MH of HCWs has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is having a detrimental influence on the public health response to COVID-19. Protecting the MH of HCWs both during and beyond this public health crisis should remain a top priority, with particular emphasis on multifaceted interventions that aim to balance the psychological needs of individual HCWs with organisational-level strategies that could be targeted to promote their wellbeing.