The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a serious global health threat. Without a vaccine, behavior change is the most effective means of reducing disease transmission. Identifying ...psychological factors that may encourage engagement in preventative health behaviors is crucial. The behavioral immune system (BIS) represents a set of psychological processes thought to promote health by encouraging disease avoidance behaviors. This study examined whether individual differences in BIS reactivity (germ aversion, pathogen disgust sensitivity) were associated with concern about COVID-19 and engagement in recommended preventative health behaviors (social distancing, handwashing, cleaning/disinfecting, avoiding touching face, wearing facemasks). From March 20 to 23, 2020, a US national sample (N = 1019) completed an online survey. Germ aversion and pathogen disgust sensitivity were the two variables most consistently associated with COVID-19 concern and preventative health behaviors, while accounting for demographic, health, and psychosocial covariates. Findings have implications for the development of interventions intended to increase preventative health behaviors.
Social isolation and disconnectedness increase the risk of worse mental health, which might suggest that preventive health measures (i.e., self-quarantining, social distancing) negatively affect ...mental health. This longitudinal study examined relations of self-quarantining and social distancing with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. A U.S. national sample (N = 1,011) completed eight weekly online surveys from March 20, 2020 to May 17, 2020. Surveys assessed self-quarantining, social distancing, anxiety, and depression. Fixed-effect autoregressive cross-lagged models provided a good fit to the data, allowing for disaggregation of between-person and within-person effects. Significant between-person effects suggested those who engaged in more self-quarantining and social distancing had higher anxiety and depression compared to those who engaged in less social distancing and quarantining. Significant within-person effects indicated those who engaged in greater social distancing for a given week experienced higher anxiety and depression that week. However, there was no support for self-quarantining or social distancing as prospective predictors of mental health, or vice versa. Findings suggest a relationship between mental health and both self-quarantining and social distancing, but further longitudinal research is required to understand the prospective nature of this relationship and identify third variables that may explain these associations.
Arousal reappraisal has been shown to be an effective strategy during stress to improve anxiety. However, the exact psychological mechanism through which arousal reappraisal improves anxiety is ...unknown. In a large, cross‐sectional study (Study 1, N = 455) participants engaged in an acute psychological stress task and rated their levels of physiological arousal, cognitive anxiety, and somatic anxiety, and whether they perceived this physiological arousal, cognitive anxiety, and somatic anxiety as helpful or hurtful (i.e., interpretation). Structural equation models supported a previously hypothesized model demonstrating that higher levels of physiological arousal were interpreted more negatively and this negative interpretation was associated with higher levels of anxiety intensity and more negative interpretations of anxiety. In an independent sample (Study 2, N = 155), participants were randomly assigned to an arousal reappraisal intervention or control condition prior to engaging in the psychological stress task. Results indicated that arousal reappraisal resulted in more positive interpretations of physiological arousal and anxiety. Results also supported a previously hypothesized model demonstrating that arousal reappraisal ‘broke’ the connection between physiological arousal intensity and physiological arousal interpretation. The present studies suggest that arousal reappraisal could possibly be acting through improving interpretations of physiological arousal symptoms.
•Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with cardiovascular disease.•Alterations in cardiovascular responses to stress may be an underlying mechanism.•How ACEs relate to cardiovascular ...responses to repeated stressors is unknown.•Higher ACEs is related to less stress-response habituation in women, but not in men.•ACEs may thus alter the body’s ability to adaptively respond to stress in adulthood.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are robustly associated with later cardiovascular disease. Alterations in cardiovascular responses to stress may be an underlying mechanism. The present study examined whether ACEs predicted habituation of cardiovascular responses across two acute laboratory stress tasks, and whether this differed between men and women. During a single laboratory visit, 453 healthy young adults completed two identical stress-inducing protocols, each involving a 10-minute baseline and 4-minute acute psychological stress task. Heart rate (HR) and systolic/diastolic blood pressure (S/DBP) were recorded throughout. Participants also completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences scale. Cardiovascular responses habituated from the first to second stress task on average across the entire sample. However, women—but not men—with higher self-reported ACEs displayed less habituation of HR and DBP, but not SBP, across the stress tasks. Results suggest that ACEs may alter the body’s ability to adaptively respond to stress exposures in adulthood, specifically in women.
To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity in the Blackfeet American Indian Tribal Community. American Indian adults residing on the Blackfeet reservation in Northwest Montana ...(n = 167) participated in a longitudinal survey across 4 months during the COVID-19 pandemic (August 24, 2020- November 30, 2020). Participants reported on demographics and food insecurity. We examined trajectories of food insecurity alongside COVID-19 incidence. While food insecurity was high in the Blackfeet community preceding the pandemic, 79% of our sample reported significantly greater food insecurity at the end of the study. Blackfeet women were more likely to report higher levels of food insecurity and having more people in the household predicted higher food insecurity. Longitudinal data indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated already high levels of food insecurity in the Blackfeet community. Existing programs and policies are inadequate to address this public health concern in AI tribal communities.
Abstract
Introduction
Sleep disturbances after a trauma forecast mental health difficulties such as post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). COVID-19 has resulted in numerous stressors for youth (e.g., ...school closures, social isolation) that directly disrupt sleep and may have negative mental health consequences. However, investigations of sleep and adverse events in youth have primarily been limited to months or years after a trauma has occurred. How adolescent sleep patterns and mental health intersect during an ongoing adverse experience is unknown.
Methods
Adolescents from the United States (N = 503; 80.9% female; 13–18 years) participated in an online daily diary study within 3 weeks after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency. Participants completed one week of twice daily reports (5406 observations) on their nightly sleep (sleep timing, sleep quality, sleep onset difficulties, and nightmares) and daytime mental health symptoms (COVID-19 PTSS, positive affect, negative affect, and loneliness).
Results
Mixed models adjusting for age, sex, and socioeconomic status indicated that cyclical, bidirectional effects emerged, with daytime mental health symptoms predicting same-night sleep disturbances, and sleep disturbances predicting next-day mental health. Greater PTSS predicted sleep onset difficulties (Estimate = .02, SE = .004, t = 5.56 p < .001) and sleep onset difficulties predicted next-day PTSS (Estimate = .35, SE = .17, t = 2.04, p < .05). Greater daytime negative affect predicted greater nightmares (Estimate = .07, SE = .01, t = 4.97, p < .001), and nightmares predicted marginally more next-day negative affect (Estimate = .07, SE = .04, t = 1.66, p = .09). PTSS (Estimate = .01, SE = .003, t = 3.47, p < .001) and negative affect (Estimate = .05, SE = .03, t = 2.06, p < .05) both predicted poorer sleep quality the following night.
Conclusion
Findings suggest that mental health symptoms during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with increased sleep disturbances. In turn, these sleep disturbances predict increased mental health symptoms. Overall, results provide a greater understanding of youth sleep patterns during COVID-19 and how sleep disturbances may inhibit resilience in the context of an ongoing stressor.
Support (if any)
Center for American Indian and Rural Health Equity
IMPORTANCE: As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads across the world, it is critical to understand the psychological factors associated with pandemic-related behaviors. This perspecitve may be ...especially important to study among adolescents, who are less likely to experience severe symptoms but contribute to the spread of the virus. OBJECTIVE: To examine psychological factors associated with adolescents’ behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This self-reported survey conducted from March 20 to 22, 2020, recruited a population-based sample of adolescents via social media to complete an anonymous survey. Participants were eligible if they had internet access, lived in the United States, and were aged 13 to 18 years. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Outcomes included COVID-19 news monitoring, social distancing, disinfecting, and hoarding behaviors during the 7 days after the United States declared a national emergency. The psychological factors were attitudes about COVID-19 severity, social responsibility values, social trust, and self-interest. The a priori hypotheses were that greater attitudes about the severity of COVID-19, greater social responsibility, and greater social trust would be associated with greater news monitoring, social distancing, and disinfecting, whereas greater self-interest would be associated with more hoarding. RESULTS: The sample included 770 adolescents collected via convenience sampling (mean SD age, 16.3 1.1 years; 575 girls 74.7%). Many teens reported not engaging in pure social distancing (528 68.6%), but they were monitoring the news (688 89.4%) and disinfecting daily (676 87.8%). Some teens reported hoarding (152 19.7%). Attitudes about the greater severity of COVID-19 were associated with more social distancing (β = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.10 to 0.25), disinfecting (β = 0.16; 95% CI = 0.08 to 0.23), and news monitoring (β = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.18 to 0.33) but also more hoarding (β = 0.08; 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.16). Greater social responsibility was associated with more disinfecting (β = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.17 to 0.32) and news monitoring (β = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.07 to 0.22) and less hoarding (β = −0.07; 95% CI = −0.14 to −0.01). Greater self-interest values were associated with less social distancing (β = −0.08; 95% CI = −0.15 to −0.01) and more hoarding (β = 0.08; 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.15). Greater social trust was associated with less hoarding (β = −0.09; 95% CI, −0.16 to −0.02). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The results of this survey study suggest that emphasizing the severity of COVID-19 and the social implications of pandemic-related behaviors may be important for teens, particularly for those who are not following preventive health behaviors or who are engaging in hoarding.
To determine whether job insecurity due to COVID-19 and financial concern were associated with worse mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participants (N = 474 employed U.S. individuals) ...completed an online survey from April 6 to 12, 2020. Linear regressions were used to examine factors associated with mental health.
After accounting for demographic characteristics, health status, other COVID-19 experiences, and anxiety symptoms, greater job insecurity due to COVID-19 was related to greater depressive symptoms. Conversely, after accounting for covariates and depressive symptoms, greater financial concern was related to greater anxiety symptoms. Further, greater job insecurity was indirectly related to greater anxiety symptoms due to greater financial concern.
Findings suggest that employers should aim to reduce job insecurity and financial concern among employees during the COVID-19 pandemic to address the associated mental health consequences.
Several U.S. states have proposed bills to lower the minimum local and national voting age to 16 years. Legislators and the public often reference political philosophy, attitudes about the ...capabilities of teenagers, or past precedent as evidence to support or oppose changing the voting age. Dissenters to changing the voting age are primarily concerned with whether 16- and 17-year-olds have sufficient political maturity to vote, including adequate political knowledge, cognitive capacity, independence, interest, and life experience. We review past research that suggests 16- and 17-year-olds possess the political maturity to vote. Concerns about youths’ ability to vote are generally not supported by developmental science, suggesting that negative stereotypes about teenagers may be a large barrier to changing the voting age.
PDF
