ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of social media offered a possible way to address the difficulties of social relationships for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as a way to ease the problems of their caregivers. To gather information on the feasibility of this solution, we conducted an online questionnaire about the first lockdown period in Italy (March-May 2020) with 29 caregivers of ASD individuals. The questionnaire investigated their living conditions, the way time was spent during isolation, the availability of technological equipment, the perceived level of anxiety and the perceived utility of social media. The results showed that the difficulties of using social media had not been overcome, even at this time of greatest need. However, caregivers who take care of ASD people with high levels of anxiety perceived social media as more useful. This result invites further reflection on how to implement social media effectively for people with ASD.
ABSTRACT
Universities and institutions of higher education have been forced to move study and work activities remotely to contrast the spread of the pandemic due to Covid-19. Given the differences in roles, opportunities and operational functions of students, faculty members and university employees, it was deemed important to investigate whether any difficulties encountered in this condition of isolation may have led the three different groups to behave in an ethically inappropriate manner. To this end a questionnaire was developed and administered to a sample of 706 respondents, i.e. faculty members, students and technical and administrative staff. The study participants filled in a questionnaire aimed at investigating the operating conditions of working and studying at a distance, relating them to the perception of possible misbehavior by their own group and the other two subgroups. Results put in evidence that the three groups considered faced different difficulties that had different effects on perceptions in relation to the misconduct they experienced or perpetrated. Faculty appear to be essentially suffering from problems experienced even before the pandemic, such as an excess of competition that leads them to see their own colleagues as unfair. Students have less satisfactory housing conditions and demonstrate an awe of faculty that leads them to express less dissent when they witness misconduct. Technical and administrative staff appear disadvantaged in terms of technical tools and less equipped to process the negative feedback they receive about their work. However, they more than the other two groups are convinced that misbehaviors have decreased during home quarantine. On the contrary, faculty and students reported that misconduct have increased during the period of isolation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
This study investigated the effect of the isolation during the lockdown period on psychological distress and well-being in a sample of professors (N=150), students (N=150) and technical administrative staff (N=150) from 3 Italian Universities, in the region of Tuscany. We administered a self-reported online questionnaire to collect socio-demographic information, investigate issues in work and study life, and assess the level of perceived stress and psychological well-being. The results of this study indicate that under conditions of isolation perceived stress levels are increased, and this is related to the experience of an unpleasant house environment. This is also significantly predicted by the occurrence of issues with online lectures and administrative activities for university professors or by having issues with managerial support for technical administrative staff. On the other hand, for university students, a good relationship with other students is of great importance to maintain a high level of mental well-being and being male is a protective factor. Evidently, aspects related to the deprivation of opportunities for peer relationships are experienced as particularly problematic. © 2021 Virtual Simulation Innovation Workshop, SIW 2021. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Some studies report high levels of perceived stress by university students in relation to academic misconduct [1]. Therefore, it seemed interesting to evaluate how and to what extent the social containment measures that have been put in place to mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic can influence the relationship between stress and ethical/unethical behaviors in the population of university students. 282 students from 3 Universities in Italy, filled in an online questionnaire aimed at detecting socio-demographic information, the level of perceived stress, the degree of interference between home life and study activities, the perception of unethical behavior. Results show a high level of stress and more serious issues with relationships with other students. In addition, problems in obtaining adequate online informational support appear to increase perceptions of misconduct during exams and in relationships with professors. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.