Towards sustainable urban communities: investigating the associations between community parks and place attachment in Master-Planned Estates in Sydney

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our living experiences in cities and neighbourhoods. It is urgently necessary to understand more about place attachment and human-environment interactions in urban communities. Master-Planned Estate (MPE) as a sustainable residential form, provides physical and social infrastructures to build a healthy community and sustainable environment. Place attachment is one essential factor of community sustainability. However, there is a significant research gap in exploring the relationship between neighbourhood built environment and place attachment in MPEs. This study investigates the associations between community parks and place attachment in MPEs in Sydney. Using the data collected via a resident survey in two MPEs in Sydney during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, we found that three factors of community park use are significantly and positively associated with place attachment: pedestrian accessibility to parks, pedestrian connectivity with surroundings and satisfaction with children's playground in parks. This study provides theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions to sustainable communities. It tests place attachment theory in the Australian MPE context. It provides first-hand empirical evidence to understand human-environment interactions in MPEs and adds evidence from the COVID-19 context to the literature. The findings provide practical implications for sustainable urban communities in Sydney or wider regions.

Preventing compassion fatigue among educators: An educator resiliency study during the COVID-19 pandemic

In this chapter, we present both quantitative and qualitative findings from the Educator Resiliency Project, which aimed to understand educators' risk and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning among 321 educators in a diverse and urban school district in Northern California. The quantitative findings revealed how educators' perceptions of online teaching self-efficacy, educators' social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies, and school connectedness factors concurrently and interactively influenced educators' compassion fatigue during the pandemic;and the qualitative findings illustrated the main themes of sources contributing to their compassion fatigue and other individual struggles during the distance learning. Based on the quantitative and qualitative findings, we also discussed the practical implications and strategies to prevent compassion fatigue and promote wellness among educators during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Influences of prepandemic bullying victimization and COVID-19 peer discrimination on Chinese American adolescents' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guided by the social-ecological diathesis-stress model, we examined the interactive influences of prepandemic bullying victimization and COVID-19 peer discrimination on Chinese American adolescents' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included 193 Chinese American adolescents from middle and high schools in the United States. Results of regression analyses suggested that Chinese American adolescents' prepandemic bullying victimization in both traditional and cyber forms, but not COVID-19 peer discrimination, was significantly and positively associated with both their internalizing and externalizing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, after their sex, grade level, age, and immigration status were controlled. Moreover, Chinese American adolescents' prepandemic bullying victimization in cyber form (but not in traditional form), mitigated the risk influence of COVID-19 peer discrimination on their internalizing problems (but not externalizing problems), during the pandemic. The findings indicate the salient and lasting influence of prepandemic bullying victimization on Chinese American adolescents' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the importance of continued support for vulnerable students who suffered from prepandemic bullying victimization during the school reopening and postpandemic recovery. It also highlights the importance of developing a resilience-focused approach to creating conditions and opportunities to foster posttraumatic growth among youth with bullying and racial trauma experience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations between Community Parks and Social Interactions in Master-Planned Estates in Sydney, Australia

There have been growing concerns regarding increased social isolation in Australia, many of which are currently being exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Feelings of social isolation may increase the risk of mental issues in people. New Urbanism hypothesizes that neighborhood communal spaces can influence social interaction between residents and, in turn, can promote community sustainability. This study investigated the associations between community parks and social interactions in master-planned estates (MPEs) in Sydney, Australia. Data were obtained from a resident survey conducted in two MPEs in the inner west area of Sydney: Breakfast Point and Liberty Grove (n = 192). Hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) models were used to analyze the relationship between community park use and social interaction. This study found that the factors 'frequency of community park use', 'rest spaces satisfaction', and 'pedestrian connectivity with surroundings' are significantly and positively associated with social interaction between residents in the MPE context. The findings of this study highlight the importance of the community parks in creating social sustainability in MPEs, particularly in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

Educators' online teaching self-efficacy and compassion fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic: The dual roles of "connect".

Guided by the job demands-resources model and social-cognitive theory, we examined how educator perceived school connectedness and their attempts to connect with school members (i.e., administrators, staff, students, and families) concurrently and interactively influenced educators' compassion fatigue and online teaching self-efficacy during distance learning in the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Participants were 321 educators in a large, urban school district in northern California. Results of linear regression modeling suggested that educators with longer years of working in education and White educators reported higher levels of compassion fatigue than their counterparts. White educators also reported a lower level of online teaching self-efficacy than their counterparts. With the control of educators' gender, race/ethnicity, and years of teaching in education, educators' self-reported school connectedness is negatively associated with compassion fatigue. Educators' attempts to connect with students not only positively associated with compassion fatigue but also intensified the negative association between school connectedness and compassion fatigue. Moreover, educators' school connectedness and attempts to connect with administrators and staff both positively associated with online teaching self-efficacy. Also, educators' attempts to connect with families mitigated the positive association between school connectedness and online teaching self-efficacy. The findings highlight the importance of promoting educators' school connectedness in improving educators' occupational wellbeing. It also highlights that educators' school connectedness and their attempts to connect with certain group of school members mutually and interactively influence educators' compassion fatigue and online teaching self-efficacy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Follow-up testing of viral nucleic acids in patients with COVID-19 in Dazu district, Chongqing, China

To investigate the recurrence rate of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) after discharge and type of SARS-CoV-Z nucleic acid-positive samples from patients with recurrence of SARS-CoV-Z in Dazu District, Chongqing, China, all patients were kept in isolation for 14 days, then quarantined at home for 4 weeks after discharge, during which time nasopharyngeal swabs, oropharyngeal swabs, feces, saliva, and urine were collected to test for SARS-CoV-Z nucleic acids by RT-PCR, and symptoms and signs were documented. Results showed that there were no symptoms or signs during isolation for any patient. However, specimens from three patients were confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-Z nucleic acids 3 to 14 days after discharge. SARS- CoV-Z nucleic acids were detected in saliva samples from two patients with recurrence of SARS-CoV-Z. The present study suggested that there is a relatively high incidence of positive tests for SARS-CoV-Z nucleic acids in patients after discharge. This is the first time that SARS-CoV-Z nucleic acids were detected in saliva samples. Whether the virus is infectious in these patients requires further study.

Rapid tool based on a food environment typology framework for evaluating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food system resilience.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated mitigation measures are highlighting resiliency and vulnerability of food systems with consequences for diets, food security, and health outcomes. Frameworks and tools are called for to evaluate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as identify entry points for implementing preparedness efforts. We support it is critical to adopt a food environment typology framework based on the different types of food environments that people have access to in order to examine how their relationship with food environments shift with disruptions such as COVID-19 and, ultimately impact diets and food security. Here, we provide an overview of applying a food environment typology framework for developing and implementing a rapid tool to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 on interactions people have with their food environments. This tool was developed on the basis of a preliminary case study with smallholder farmers in China that generated a set of key hypotheses. We modified the tool in order to be applicable to diverse contexts in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Other researchers can implement the rapid tool presented here during times of COVID-19 as well as other disruptions towards identifying barriers and opportunities for enhancing food system resilience.