Social support and resilience to foster prosocial behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic confinement: An explanatory model

The containment measures taken because of the COVID-19 pandemic have had consequences on human thought and behaviour. The purpose of this study is to contrast an explanatory model of prosocial behaviours during confinement by analysing different variables involved. The study sample was made up of 946 participants (70.9% female) and had an average age of 35.25 (SD = 13.98). Participants completed a series of online questionnaires. The results show that social support is a predictor of prosocial behaviours and resilience is a mediator in this relationship;living with others is a protective factor for social support;not working during confinement is a predictor for prosocial behaviours;and being female is a predictor of social support and prosocial behaviours. The proposed model explains 33% of the variance in prosocial behaviours and showed an optimal fit (chi2/gl = 1.68;CFI = .990;GFI = .985;RMSEA = .027). The results explain certain underlying mechanisms of prosociality in difficult times and reflect certain characteristics of the people most vulnerable to the consequences of confinement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) Las medidas de confinamiento derivadas de la COVID-19 estan teniendo consecuencias en el pensamiento y comportamiento humano. Esta investigacion persigue contrastar un modelo explicativo de las conductas prosociales durante un confinamiento analizando distintas variables implicadas. La muestra esta formada por 946 participantes (70.9% mujeres) con una edad media de 35.25 anos (SD = 13.98). Los participantes completaron una serie de cuestionarios online. Los resultados muestran que el apoyo social es predictor de las conductas prosociales y la resiliencia es mediadora en esta relacion;vivir en compania es un predictor del apoyo social y no trabajar durante el confinamiento lo es de las conductas prosociales;ser mujer es un predictor del apoyo social y las conductas prosociales. El modelo planteado explica el 33% de la varianza en conductas prosociales y muestra un ajuste optimo (chi2/gl = 1.68;CFI = .990;GFI = .985;RMSEA = .027). Los resultados explican algunos mecanismos subyacentes de la Prosocialidad en tiempos dificiles y reflejan algunas caracteristicas de las personas mas vulnerables a las consecuencias del confinamiento. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Air quality assessment among populous sites of major metropolitan cities in India during COVID-19 pandemic confinement.

The present study aims to determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic confinement on air quality among populous sites of four major metropolitan cities in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai) from January 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020 by analyzing particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ammonia (NH3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone levels. The most prominent pollutant concerning air quality index (AQI) was determined by Pearson's correlation analysis and unpaired Welch's two-sample t test was carried out to measure the statistically significant reduction in average AQI for all the four sites. AQI significantly plummeted by 44%, 59%, 59%, and 6% in ITO-Delhi, Worli-Mumbai, Jadavpur-Kolkata, and Manali Village-Chennai respectively. The findings conclude a significant improvement in air quality with respect to reduction of 49-73%, 17-63%, 30-74%, and 15-58% in the mean concentration of PM2.5, PM10, NH3, and SO2 respectively during the confinement for the studied locations. The p values for all of the four studied locations were found significantly less than the 5% level of significance for Welch's t test analysis. In addition, reduced AQI values were highly correlated with prominent pollutants (PM2.5 and PM10) during Pearson's correlation analysis. These positive results due to pandemic imprisonment might aid to alter the current policies and strategies of pollution control for a safe and sustainable environment. Graphical abstract.

Crowdsourced smartphone data reveal altered sleep/wake pattern in quarantined Chinese during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Chinese Government quarantined Wuhan on 23 January 2020 and thereafter the Hubei province, affecting a total of 59 million citizens, to cease the spread of the coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19). The effects of this lockdown on the psychological and mental health of both the affected and unaffected Chinese are largely unknown currently. We utilized one of the largest crowdsourced databases (Sleep as Android) that consisted of 15,681 sleep records from 563 users in China to estimate the change in the sleep pattern of Chinese users during the span of 30 December 2019 to 8 March 2020 with reference to 64,378 sleep records of 1,628 users for the same calendar period of years 2011-2019. The sleep pattern in China changed drastically after 23 January 2020 when the law of quarantine and suspension of Wuhan became effective. The two major findings are: (1) Chinese people increased their sleep duration by an average of 20 min and delayed their sleep onset by an average of 30 min at weekdays, while they maintained a similar sleep duration at weekends, and (2) larger changes were found in several subgroups, including those in Wuhan (80 sleep records from 3 users), female subjects, and those aged ≤ 24 years. Overall, Chinese people slept later and longer than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine.