ABSTRACT
This brief report describes the demographic and clinical profiles of 190 adult home care users with intellectual and developmental disabilities tested for COVID-19 from March 2020 to May 2021. A cross sectional study design (n = 190) was conducted. Chi- Square tests, Fisher's Exact tests, and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals are reported. Older age and congregate living increased the odds of having a positive COVID-19 test, while dependence in personal dressing was associated with decreased odds. These findings provide useful data from the first 15 months of the pandemic;trends over time should be investigated. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (French) Ce rapport bref decrit les profils demographiques et cliniques de 190 residents adultes recevant des soins a domicile et ayant un trouble developpemental ou une deficience intellectuelle qui ont ete testes pour la COVID-19 entre mars 2020 et mai 2021. Un devis d'etude transversale (n = 190) a ete mene. Des tests du Chi carre, des tests selon la methode exacte de Fischer, et des rapports des cotes ayant un intervalle de confiance a 95% sont presentes. Un age avance et la vie en habitation collective a augmente la probabilite d'obtenir un resultat positif au test de la COVID- 19, tandis que la dependance pour l'habillage etait associee a une probabilite moins elevee. Ces resultats offrent des donnees utiles issues des 15 premiers mois de la pandemie;les tendances au fil du temps devraient etre etudiees. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This article discusses the special issue of Humor: International Journal of Humor Research. This special issue reflects numerous opportunities presented by the pandemic for research spanning different cultures, outcomes, and disciplines/methodologies. The studies presented in this special issue include populations and material from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Belarus, Australia, and Israel. These articles examine humor in the form of memes, late-night comedy, and other media messages. In addition to instances of humor, the role of sense of humor was also discussed. The humor was discussed in various disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, communication studies, and folklore, and employs the many methods that accompany those disciplines. Currently, the research team is working to make this enormous data set available to interested researchers to explore the wealth of research questions, new and old, that can be addressed with this unprecedented global exchange of humor. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This essay explores the news media's portrayal of humor during the early phase of COVID-19-related lockdowns. Examining a collection of online news articles reveals the media tended to frame the issue as an ethical one (e.g., "is it okay to laugh at the coronavirus?"). After reviewing work on humor ethics, a qualitative content analysis of 20 news media articles is presented. Three issues from the news stories are identified, allowing comparison of the media's claims against the ethical principles articulated. The essay concludes with a consideration of how news media's coverage of humor fits within a broader pandemic narrative. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic is linked to a rise in mental health problems and the consequent devastating impact on social, political and health pillars. Puerto Rico has been no exception, including an aggressive and restrictive quarantine period, and several thousands of deaths attributed to the virus. The aim of this investigation is to examine the reliability and convergent validity of the Spanish version of the COVID Stress Scale (CSS). The CSS is a robust instrument to measure stress related to fears of being exposed to the virus and to the deleterious consequences in the lifestyle of the individual. Participants were 416 persons who completed an online survey that included the CSS and the assessment of depressive and anxiety symptoms. We examined itemlevel characteristics, factor structure and the convergent validity of the scales. The results support the five-factor structure of the CSS, excellent internal reliability, and convergent validity with scales of anxiety and depression. Overall, the Spanish version of the CSS provide a reliable and valid assessment of the new proposed COVID stress syndrome. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) Abstract (Spanish) La pandemia del COVID-19 ha estado asociada a un incremento en problemas de salud mental y al devastador impacto en pilares sociales, politicos y de salud publica. Puerto Rico no ha sido la excepcion, incluyendo un periodo riguroso restrictivo de salidas fuera del hogar y varias miles de muertes atribuidas al virus. El proposito de esta investigacion es examinar la confiabilidad y validez convergente de la version en espanol de la Escala de Estres de COVID (EEC). Participaron 416 personas que completaron una encuesta en linea que incluia la EEC y la evaluacion de sintomas de depresion y ansiedad. Examinamos caracteristicas a nivel de itemes, la estructura factorial y la validez convergente de las diversas escalas. Los resultados apoyan una estructura de cinco factores en la EEC, confiabilidad interna excelente, y validez convergente con las escalas de depresion y ansiedad. En general, la version en espanol de la EEC provee una evaluacion confiable y valida del nuevo sindrome de estres de COVID. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The greatest risks of Covid-19 are not arising from its direct effects on morbidity and mortality but from exaggerated aspirations to control such effects politically. A swift transformation from an epidemic to an endemic state of affairs may in case of a disease with comparatively low and unequally distributed mortality like covid-19 be an option, too. This needs to be laid out but it is not the task of science to plead for this or any other option. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted U.S. communities of color, such as the Latino/x population. The pandemic coincides with other major contemporary structural factors affecting Latinxs, including the effects of U.S. immigration policies and President Trump's xenophobic rhetoric and priorities. Yet, the independent and simultaneous implications of the larger sociopolitical climate and specific COVID-19 concerns for Latinx mental health remain less clear. The present study uses an intersectional and social determinants of health framework to examine these relationships. Multivariable regression models were estimated with three waves of population-based panel data from the Pew American Trends Study (collected between 2019 and 2020) with Latinx adults (n = 1,132). We simultaneously examined how worries regarding deportation, respondents' citizenship and legal status, perceptions regarding the Trump Administration, anti-Hispanic discrimination, and pandemic-related concerns predicted variation in Latinx self-reported psychological distress, after adjusting for other important covariates. We also conducted analyses separately by gender. The results indicated that worrying about a family member or a friend being deported, perceiving higher anti-Hispanic discrimination, and viewing coronavirus as a threat to respondents' personal health and finances were significantly associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Stratified analyses revealed that gender filters the ways that some of these stressors affect the mental health of Latinas, such as perceived threats about deportation, compared to Latinos. Taken together, this work demonstrates the diverse social determinants shaping Latinx mental health in intersectional ways early in the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) La pandemia de COVID-19 ha afectado de manera desproporcionada en EE. UU. a las comunidades de color, tales como la poblacion latina. La pandemia coincide con otros importantes factores estructurales contemporaneos que afectan a los latinos, incluidos los efectos de las politicas de inmigracion de EE. UU. y las prioridades y la retorica xenofoba del expresidente Trump. Sin embargo, siguen siendo menos claras las consecuencias independientes y simultaneas del clima sociopolitico mas amplio y las inquietudes especificas a la COVID-19 respecto a la salud mental de los latinos. El presente estudio utiliza los determinantes sociales transversales del marco de salud para examinar estas relaciones. Se estimaron los modelos de regresion entre variables multiples con datos basados en tres olas poblacionales del estudio Pew American Trends Study (reunidos entre 2019 y 2020) con adultos latinos (n = 1,132). De manera simultanea, se examino la manera en que las preocupaciones respecto a la deportacion, el estado legal y de ciudadania de los encuestados, las percepciones relacionadas con el gobierno de Trump, las discriminacion contra los hispanos y las inquietudes relacionadas con la pandemia predijeron una variacion en como los latinos informaron sobre su angustia psicologica, despues de adaptarse a otras covariables. Tambien se realizaron por separado los analisis segun el genero. Los resultados indicaron que preocuparse por un familiar o amigo que fuera deportado, percibir una mayor discriminacion contra los hispanos y ver al coronavirus como una amenaza a la salud y la economia personal de los encuestados estaban relacionados de manera significativa a niveles mas elevados de angustia psicologica. Los analisis estratificados revelaron que el genero filtra las maneras en que algunos de estos factores estresantes, tales como la percepcion de amenazas de deportacion, afectan la salud mental de las mujeres latinas, en comparacion con la de los hombres latinos. En su conjunto, este trabajo demuestra las variadas determinantes sociales de la salud que dieron forma a la salud mental de los latinos de maneras trasversales a principios de la pandemia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement This study finds that worries about deportation, perceptions of anti-Hispanic discrimination, and having higher levels of COVID-19-related financial and health concerns were significantly associated with increased psychological distress among Latinxs in Spring 2020, net of other covariates. Gender-stratified analyses reveal that worries about deportation, legal and citizenship status, and pandemic-related effects on personal lives and health increased distress among Latinas but not Latinos. This highlights the array of gendered impacts and social determinants of health affecting Latinx psychological well-being during the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a great impact on the life of every inhabitant of the planet. During 2020 and 2021 a significant amount of work on how the pandemic is being conceptualized and communicated has been done. Most work has focused on the role of metaphor in the construal of specific cognitive frames. In this paper, we turn to a similar but different conceptualization mechanism, i.e. simile. Drawing from recent socio-cognitive and discursive empirical approaches to similes, this paper focuses on "target is like source" constructions in English and Spanish containing (corona)virus either as target or source of the simile. The analysis is based on 200 examples found in the digital media during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. First, the constructions, conceptualizations and mappings are analyzed. Second, the relevant discourse features (genre type, relation to subjectivity, text location and structuring properties) are described. Finally, the cross-linguistic English-Spanish analysis shows that, despite the many coincidences in both datasets, there are different tendencies as for the use of culture-specific mappings and the genres where the similes occur in. The study aims at testing to what extent the general features characterizing similes also hold in the case of (corona)virus, both as source and as target. The corpus analysis contributes, in addition, to the emerging line of research on the use of figuration in the communication of the pandemic, as well as to the study of the discursive dimensions of similes in real settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The analysis undertaken in the article focuses on a group of memes selected from the database which drew on culture-specific references. Specifically, they embrace the memories of socialist times and call on references to comic films and easily recognized characters in order to bring out the re-discovered absurdity of the current COVID-19 situation. This material seems ideal to revisit Raskin's early notion of sophistication, which was broadly argued to derive from intertextuality as well complexity of references that function as sources of humor. In all the examples discussed we can observe the intertextual and metatextual elements, multiple levels and shifts in points of view and attitudes as well as the mutual relations of verbal to visual within the meme cycles. In order to identify specific mechanisms of sophisticated humor, we attempt to identify the visual or verbal triggers of overlap of the two worlds in question, and discuss comic mechanisms of sophistication, including attributions of desire, belief and intention (purpose) to characters or the narrator as commentators on events or situations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Around the world today, how prevalent is stigma for people with HIV/AIDS, and what can be done about this? This chapter will provide a brief overview of HIV/ AIDS stigma globally-particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa-and possible intervention strategies. This chapter will consider topics such as how HIV/AIDS stigma is conceptualized and its various manifestations or types, contextual formations of said stigma in both rural and urban settings, challenges to ending stigma on this subject and considerations for a path forward to be successful, and the unique impact of COVID-19 on this topic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The development and management of the Covid-19 outbreak in the Netherlands is described. The "intelligent lockdown" was aimed at minimizing new infections and limiting the number of deaths, while keeping the economy running as much as possible. Changes in consumer behavior, exit strategy, and lessons learned are considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This research employs the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Focus Theory of Normative Conduct to convey how The Late Show with Stephen Colbert employs humor and satire with the aim of providing information, proffering injunctive norms, and modifying attitudes and subjective norms in its public audience, while exposing the inefficacy of behavioral controls and urging public authorities to adopt effective ones instead. In the earlier stages of the pandemic in the US, the Show primarily appealed to people to change their behavior through providing information, invoking injunctive norms and affiliations, foregrounding appropriate attitudes and subjective norms;at the same time, its repertoire included social and political satire drawing on organizational and institutional mechanisms of behavioral control. As the health crisis became increasingly politicized, the Show redirected its satire to policies and political figures and sought to change the behavior of policymakers in setting proper role models and adopting wiser behavioral controls to lead the nation through the crisis. Meanwhile, individual responsibility was never spared in satiric attempts to change behavior as the Show continued to provide its audience with new scientific information and encouraged them to follow scientific recommendations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Although it was thought that children were not susceptible to 2019-nCoV in the early days of the COVID-19 infection outbreak, there are currently reports of children and even one-day-old newborns being infected by the virus and hospitalized around the world. Recognizing the symptoms of the infection in children is of great value since a large number of children are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, which may act as facilitators of the virus transmission. This review aimed to identify and summarize the existing evidence on clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in pediatric patients. A systematic search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and WHO database for eligible publications. The review proposal was registered with the PROSPERO. The quality assessment was done based on JBI Critical appraisal tools. The random-effects model was used to pool clinical features in the meta-analysis. From the identified 256 potentially relevant studies, 32 articles met the predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty-one studies fulfilled the criteria for this meta-analysis. Fever (58%) and cough (48%) were reported as the most common symptoms of infected children. Disease severity was mild in 51% and moderate in 39% of cases. A total of 63% of cases had respiratory and 25% of children had gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly diarrhea and nausea/vomiting. Approximately 24% of patients were asymptomatic. Results demonstrated that fever and cough were the most common symptoms of COVID-19-infected children and the majority of cases had mild-to-moderate disease severity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 is a global pandemic and a major health crisis affecting several nations. Such outbreaks are associated with adverse mental health consequences to any group of the population. Despite its negative effects, no study has addressed the potential psychological impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak among the pastoral community. This study aims to assess psychological experiences during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak and the factors that contributed to it among pastoral community residents in West Omo, South-West Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out from May to June 2020. The study subjects were selected through a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, and entered into EpiData 3.1, then exported to SPSS version 24 for statistical analysis. The psychological impact was assessed by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). P-value < 0.20 during bi-variable analysis was considered as a candidate for multivariable logistic regression. Independent factors of depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed using adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence level s at P-value < 0.05 cut-off point. Results: A total of 845 eligible pastoral residents were interviewed, with a 94.4% response rate. The prevalence of a positive response for anxiety, depression and stress was 30.8%, 26.3% and 24.4%, respectively. Being female was highly associated with developing anxiety and depression. Anxiety was found to be three times more prevalent among the respondents with >= 3 family members. Furthermore, participants with a history of mental illness, poor social support, and a high perceived life threat were also at a higher risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, and stress. Conclusion: The prevalence of positive depression, anxiety and stress results were high. As a result, special attention should be paid, by governmental and non-governmental health organizations, to psychosocial and mental health programs for pastoral residentsduring the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The global outbreak of COVID-19 has imposed considerable stress on healthcare systems throughout the world, further complicating treatment of HIV and access to care for HIV patients. The many challenges that persons living with HIV must negotiate daily are now accentuated by COVID-19 imposed constraints. This includes the repetition and magnification of stigma, loss, isolation, psychological trauma complicated by healthcare disparities, additional barriers to accessing care, and depletion of already strained healthcare resources. The COVID-19 outbreak also introduces a new and perilous threat of COVID-19 and HIV comorbidity. Numerous challenges that arise with the COVID-19 pandemic also provide opportunities for persons with HIV to strengthen their individual coping skills, build resilience, and become a resource for their communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
(Spanish) Este articulo presenta un reporte de caso para resaltar el rol que los programas municipales de rastreo de casos tienen en identificar casos falsos positivos de COVID-19. El 19 de junio de 2020, el programa de rastreo de San German, Puerto Rico recibio una notificacion de una mujer (JB11) con resultado positivo a prueba RT-PCR realizada el 12 de junio como parte de un evento de cribado extenso. El 21 de junio, el Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico (DSPR) emitio un comunicado a los medios de comunicacion alegando un posible brote en San German. Tras realizarse pruebas adicionales, el caso de JB11 fue recategorizado como uno falso positivo. Una contaminacion cruzada en cualquier punto del proceso de manejo de la muestra pudo haber sido la causa del falso positivo. JB11 experimento distres debido al mal manejo de la informacion por el DSPR en los medios de comunicacion. Este reporte ejemplifica como un programa municipal de rastreo bien estructurado puede ser eficaz en identificar falsos positivos a prueba RT-PCR y en reducir el riesgo de contagio, asi como en ayudar a reducir el distres y la carga al sistema sanitario generando confianza en la comunidad mediante la comunicacion efectiva basada en la evidencia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Although it was thought that children were not susceptible to 2019-nCoV in the early days of the COVID-19 infection outbreak, there are currently reports of children and even one-day-old newborns being infected by the virus and hospitalized around the world. Recognizing the symptoms of the infection in children is of great value since a large number of children are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, which may act as facilitators of the virus transmission. This review aimed to identify and summarize the existing evidence on clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in pediatric patients. A systematic search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and WHO database for eligible publications. The review proposal was registered with the PROSPERO. The quality assessment was done based on JBI Critical appraisal tools. The random-effects model was used to pool clinical features in the meta-analysis. From the identified 256 potentially relevant studies, 32 articles met the predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty-one studies fulfilled the criteria for this meta-analysis. Fever (58%) and cough (48%) were reported as the most common symptoms of infected children. Disease severity was mild in 51% and moderate in 39% of cases. A total of 63% of cases had respiratory and 25% of children had gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly diarrhea and nausea/vomiting. Approximately 24% of patients were asymptomatic. Results demonstrated that fever and cough were the most common symptoms of COVID-19-infected children and the majority of cases had mild-to-moderate disease severity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Based on a taxonomy of collective fears, the objective of the study (N = 1,144) was to analyse how the original reasons attributed to an object of fear play a role in collective angst and to study how these attributions are linked to differentiated social representations of the object. The results show that the underlying reasons (human vs. non-human;intentional vs. unintentional) organize the socio-representational field of the coronavirus. Moreover, the fact of considering the viral epidemic as reversible (vs. irreversible) also plays a role in the socio-representational universe of individuals. Finally, we observe that the attribution of a human origin to the virus is linked to greater collective angst than an attribution to a natural origin. These first results show that it is important to focus on the attribution of the origin of objects of fear in order to understand its consequences in terms of social representations and collective angst. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) En base a una taxonomia de miedos colectivos, el objetivo del estudio (N = 1,144) fue analizar de que forma las razones originales atribuidas a un objeto de miedo desempenan un rol en la angustia colectiva, y estudiar como estas atribuciones se vinculan con representaciones sociales diferenciadas del objeto. Los resultados muestran que las razones subyacentes (humanas frente a no humanos;intencionadas frente a no intencionadas) organizan el campo socio-representacional del coronavirus. Ademas, el hecho de considerar que la epidemia viral es reversible (frente a irreversible) tambien desempena un rol en el universo socio-representacional de los individuos. Finalmente, observamos que la atribucion de un origen humano al virus humano esta vinculada con una mayor angustia colectiva que una atribucion a un origen natural. Estos primeros resultados muestran que es importante centrarse en la atribucion del origen de los objetos de miedo, con el fin de comprender sus consecuencias en terminos de representaciones sociales y angustia colectiva. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has radical implications for how we perceive our environment. Worldwide, people have been asked or required to limit close proximity with others not of their household, and to wear masks in public. In my practice with gay men, I have seen clients present with feelings of guilt triggered by the current public health crisis, with its prolonged physical distance from others and authorities' warnings about the dangers of physical closeness. This chapter briefly explores the history of the HIV/AIDS crisis in America in relation to the current pandemic, the resurgence of shame and guilt about identity, and the return to complex relational roles, with particular regard to violation of expectations as it relates to lack of or poor responsiveness from caregivers. The role of resilience in marginalized communities' response to government neglect will be addressed. Brief case vignettes of diverse gay and queer identifying men will be presented to illustrate the effects of the slow burn of isolation stress on men who lived through the HIV/AIDS crisis and now live with the coronavirus pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This reprinted chapter originally appeared in Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 2020, 63[6-7], 602-606. (The following of the original article appeared in record 2020-58061-001.) COVID-19 continues to have a detrimental impact worldwide. Older adults living with HIV are a vulnerable group. COVID-19 may have an effect on HIV treatment outcomes and psychosocial health among older adults living with HIV. Social workers and health-care providers should be aware of the potential longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on this vulnerable population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The disruptive impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been felt by workers around the world, and decidedly even more so for precarious, low-wage, and nontraditional workers. Challenges for these workers including low wage rates, a lack of access to benefits and resources, and job insecurity were all pressing issues before COVID-19, but the pandemic has exacerbated existing disparities, while other novel challenges have emerged, further impacting the safety and wellbeing of these workers. Historically, research in the fields of organizational behavior and industrial-organizational psychology has overwhelmingly focused on "white-collar" workers with a corresponding underrepresentation of hourly wage workers, contract workers, and others with nontraditional work arrangements (e.g., gig workers). Not only do people belonging to marginalized groups face a disproportionate share of illness and death associated with crises such as COVID-19, but they also tend to be disproportionately represented in these jobs, many of which were deemed essential during the pandemic. Using an intersectional lens, the present scientific commentary and review highlights research related to these issues and serves as a call to action for research examining the experiences of these underrepresented workers. We argue that the pandemic has necessitated a change in our traditional understanding of precarious work and suggest we leverage existing theoretical frameworks to explore our understanding of the effects of worker status on experiences and outcomes during pandemics. Finally, we provide research-informed recommendations for organizations seeking to improve working conditions and uplift workers of all backgrounds. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement This scientific review calls attention to the need to consider the experiences of underrepresented workers as it relates to the psychology of pandemics and work more broadly. We discuss how different marginalized identities face complex challenges during crises such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and offer research-informed recommendations to help organizations and their workers prosper. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)