Correlates of coping based on the concept of the sociotype: a secondary data analysis of an Israeli National Survey

Health-related quality of life and coping strategies adopted by COVID-19 survivors: A nationwide cross-sectional study in Bangladesh

INTRODUCTION

This study aims to investigate the health-related quality of life and coping strategies among COVID-19 survivors in Bangladesh.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study of 2198 adult, COVID-19 survivors living in Bangladesh. Data were collected from previously diagnosed COVID-19 participants (confirmed by an RT-PCR test) via door-to-door interviews in the eight different divisions in Bangladesh. For data collection, Bengali-translated Brief COPE inventory and WHO Brief Quality of Life (WHO-QoLBREF) questionnaires were used. The data collection period was from October 2020 to March 2021.

RESULTS

Males 72.38% (1591) were more affected by COVID-19 than females 27.62% (607). Age showed significant correlations (p<0.005) with physical, psychological and social relationships, whereas gender showed only a significant correlation with physical health (p<0.001). Marital status, occupation, living area, and co-morbidities showed significant co-relation with all four domains of QoL (p<0.001). Education and affected family members showed significant correlation with physical and social relationship (p<0.001). However, smoking habit showed a significant correlation with both social relationship and environment (p<0.001). Age and marital status showed a significant correlation with avoidant coping strategies (p<0.001); whereas gender and co-morbidities showed a significant correlation with problem-focused coping strategies (p<0.001). Educational qualification, occupation and living area showed significant correlation with all three coping strategies(p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Survivors of COVID-19 showed mixed types of coping strategies; however, the predominant coping strategy was avoidant coping, followed by problem-focused coping, with emotion-focused coping reported as the least prevalent. Marital status, occupation, living area and co-morbidities showed a greater effect on QoL in all participants. This study represents the real scenario of nationwide health-associated quality of life and coping strategies during and beyond the Delta pandemic.

Food Security and Nutrition as the Neglected Missing Links in Cultural Evolution: The Role of the Sociotype

Food security and nutrition were major drivers of cultural evolution by enabling sociotypic development and communal living after the Neolithic agricultural revolution some 12,000 years ago. The sociotype unites concepts from the sciences and the humanities; in concert with the genotype it determines an individual's phenotype (observable traits and behavior), and together they advance societal culture. As such, the sociotype relates to an individual's dynamic interactions with the surrounding social environment throughout life and comprises three domains: the Individual, Relationships, and Context. Nutrition affects each domain, respectively, by ensuring the following dimensions of food security: utilization (metabolic fuel and health); accessibility (physical and economic); and availability (the right to nutritious food for all citizens). The sociotype is influenced by multiple factors, including diet-gene interactions, allostasis, microbiota, oxytocin, and culturally through mate selection, family bonds, social communication, political ideologies, and values. Food security, sociotypes, and culture form a complex adaptive system to enable coping with the circumstances of life in health and disease, to achieve sustainable development, and to eradicate hunger. The current geopolitical unrest highlights the absolutely critical role of this system for global security, yet many challenges remain in implementing this paradigm for society. Therefore, sustainable food security must be considered a fundamental human right and responsibility for safeguarding the survival and progress of the sociotypes of humankind (Homo culturus) worldwide.

Bio-Psycho-Socio-Spirito-Cultural Factors of Burnout: A Systematic Narrative Review of the Literature

Background: Burnout is a widespread, multifactorial, and mainly psychological phenomenon. The pathogenesis of burnout is commonly described within the bio-psycho-social model of health and disease. Recent literature suggests that the phenomenon of burnout may be broader so that the three dimensions might not reflect the multifaceted and complex nature of the syndrome. Consequently, this review aims to identify the diversity of factors related to burnout, to define overarching categories based on these, and to clarify whether the bio-psycho-social model adequately describes the pathogenesis of burnout-holistically and sufficiently. Method: Five online databases (PubMed, PubPsych, PsychARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and Google Scholar) were systematically searched using defined search terms to identify relevant studies. The publication date was set between January 1981 and November 2020. Based on the selected literature, we identified factors related to burnout. We aggregated these factors into a comprehensible list and assigned them to overarching categories. Then, we assigned the factors to the dimensions of an extended model of health and disease. Results: We identified a total of 40 burnout-related factors and 10 overarching categories. Our results show that in addition to biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors, various factors that can be assigned to a spiritual and work cultural dimension also play an important role in the onset of burnout. Conclusion: An extended bio-psycho-socio-spirito-cultural model is necessary to describe the pathogenesis of burnout. Therefore, future studies should also focus on spiritual and work cultural factors when investigating burnout. Furthermore, these factors should not be neglected in future developments of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention options.

Food insecurity in the households of children with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities in the United States: Analysis of the National Survey of Children's Health Data 2016-2018

LAY ABSTRACT

Families of children with autism spectrum disorder are more likely to experience financial strain and resulting food insecurity due to additional cost of care, disparate access to needed services, and loss of income resulting from parental job loss. Utilizing nationally representative data, this analysis indicates that the families of children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities are twice as likely to experience food insecurity than families of children without disabilities after adjusting for various factors. Several factors, ranging from state-level policies such as Medicaid expansion to individual-level factors such as higher utilization of emergency room services, were associated with the higher prevalence of food insecurity in families of children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities. Implications of these findings on programs and policies supporting families in the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed.

Lessons in Resilience: Initial Coping Among Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Objectives

In addition to increased physical health risks, older adults may also experience risks to their mental health and social wellbeing due to COVID-19. Yet, older adults may be uniquely able to cope given their life experiences and coping mechanisms. This study explores older adults’ coping experiences and strategies during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research Design and Methods

A Midwestern sample of 76 older adults aged 70-97 completed a phone interview about their experiences with social distancing due to COVID-19. Interviews were conducted during early weeks of regional social distancing (March 28–April 20, 2020). Participants rated their level of perceived coping and responded to open-ended questions about their daily life and coping.

Results

Mean perceived coping level (on a scale from 1-10) was 7.9, with 87% of participants rating their coping positively. Primary themes that emerged included: 1) staying busy, 2) seeking social support, and 3) having a positive mindset. These emotion-focused coping strategies appeared adaptive in the early weeks of the pandemic for most older adults.

Discussion and Implications

Contrary to predominant messaging about the vulnerability of older adults, these findings highlight the resilient nature of older adults in terms of their psychological coping and adaptability during COVID-19. Future research should build upon these findings to better understand and promote late-life coping during crises. Practitioners should seek to support older adults’ engagement in such proactive coping, and social policies should be developed to acknowledge the variable needs of older adults.

Coping With Food Insecurity Using the Sociotype Ecological Framework

Ensuring Food Security (FS) for all citizens is a fundamental human right and policy for all countries. Dealing with Food Insecurity (FINS) is a challenge causing stress at many levels-national, household, and individual. The conceptual framework of the Sociotype has been developed as a summary ecological construct to organize the multiple, dynamic, reciprocal inputs from the environment that interact with the genotype to determine the expression of phenotypic behaviors such as coping with stress. The Sociotype ecological framework has three domains-Individual (intra-personal), Relationships (inter-personal, family and community), and Context (environment, national)-and their interactions determine an individual's resilience across the life trajectory from birth to old age. We have applied the principles of the Sociotype to classify both the stresses of, and the coping strategies to, FINS. The stresses of FINS may occur at any place along the FS pathway-Availability, Accessibility, Utilization, and Stability. The elicited coping responses may take place in one or more of the three Sociotype domains. The two processes are inter-related linearly with re-iterative feedback loops such that stress leads to coping responses that may or may not be adequate, thereby requiring modifications in the coping strategies until FS is regained. Resilience is considered to represent long-term coping strategies. The Sociotype framework is both a determinant of, and constant input to, building and strengthening resilience. However, the people with the most problems with FINS are rarely included in these discussions. They are the marginalized members of society: unemployed, homeless, displaced persons, special needs, elderly, single parents, mentally frail, and more. Applying the Sociotype ecological framework for coping with FINS stresses can allow better strategic planning for FS at national, household and individual levels and understanding the interactions between them to reach out to and help these sectors of the population.

The "sociotype" construct: Gauging the structure and dynamics of human sociality

Exploring the pertinence of a "sociotype" construct, established along the conceptual chain genotype-phenotype-sociotype, is the essential purpose of the present paper. Further, by following the sociotype's conceptual guidelines, a new psychometric indicator has been developed in order to gauge the level of social interaction around each individual-the sociotype questionnaire (SOCQ). A first version of this questionnaire has been elaborated by gathering data about the different classes of social bonds (family, friends, acquaintances, and work/study colleagues) in general population and about the dynamic update of these bonds via face-to-face conversation and other modes of interaction. A specific fieldwork was undertaken, involving 1,075 participants, all of them Spanish adults (with diverse social and regional backgrounds). The data obtained were analyzed by means of the correlational method with an analytical cross-sectional design: the number of factors and the consistency and reliability of the resulting scales were evaluated and correlated. The new sociotype indicator resulting from that fieldwork, in spite of its limitations, seems to be valid and reliable, as well as closely associated with widely used metrics of loneliness and psychological distress. It is interesting that the construct noticeably varies throughout the life course and circumstances of individuals, based on their gender and age, and adjusting to the different situations of social networking. This is the first study, to the best of our knowledge, which has tried to reach both a theoretical and an operational formulation of the sociotype construct, by establishing an ad hoc psychometric questionnaire. We think that the information provided by this operational definition opens a new direction of work that could be useful to guide the development and evaluation of programs aimed at improving and strengthening social networking in people at risk, especially for the elderly.