Studying dimensions of representation: introducing the Belgian RepResent panel (2019–2021)

This research note presents the RepResent Belgian Panel (RBP). The RBP is a voter panel survey consisting of four waves fielded to a sample of voters in Belgium around the May 2019 federal, regional, and European elections in Belgium. It provides unique data on about 250 variables for a quota sample of the same respondents, pre-2019 elections (N = 7351), post-2019 elections (N = 3909), one year after the elections (N = 1996), and 2 years after the elections (N = 1119). The RBP panel dataset was designed to analyse voters' political attitudes and behaviours, notably on different dimensions of democratic representation, and with a specific focus on democratic resentment (e.g. citizens' attitudes towards democracy such as distrust and alienation, but also behaviours such as abstention, protest, or voting for anti-establishment parties). Its longitudinal structure allows to explore the political dynamics at play in Belgium throughout the lengthy government formation process. Finally, the last two waves of the RBP were fielded during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing to explore public opinion before and during this global crisis. The RBP should be of interest to scholars of public opinion and electoral studies. © 2023, The Author(s).

News Can Help! The Impact of News Media and Digital Platforms on Awareness of and Belief in Misinformation

Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK (N = 4732) to investigate the effect of news and digital platform use on awareness of and belief in COVID-19 misinformation over time (January to February 2022). We find little support for the idea that the news exacerbates misinformation problems. News use broadened people's awareness of false claims but did not increase belief in false claims—in some cases, news use actually weakened false belief acquisition, depending on access mode (online or offline) and outlet type. In line with previous research, we also find that news use strengthens political knowledge gain over time, again depending on outlets used. The effect of digital platforms was inconsistent across countries, and in most cases not significant—though some, like Twitter, were associated with positive outcomes while others were associated with negative outcomes. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that news media, by reporting on false and misleading claims, ultimately leave the public more misinformed, and support the idea that news helps people become more informed and, in some cases, more resilient to misinformation. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Visiting crowded places during the COVID-19 pandemic. A panel study among adult Norwegians.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions, including promotion of social distancing, have been applied extensively in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding cognitive and psychological factors regulating precautionary behavior is important for future management. The present study examines the importance of selected factors as predictors of having visited or intended to visit crowded places. Six online questionnaire-based waves of data collection were conducted in April-October 2020 in a Norwegian panel (≥18 years). Sample size at Wave 1 was 1,400. In the present study, "Visited or intended to visit crowded places" for different types of locations were the dependent variables. Predictors included the following categories of items: Perceived response effectiveness, Self-efficacy, Vulnerability, Facilitating factors and Barriers. Data were analyzed with frequency and percentage distributions, descriptives, correlations, principal components analysis, negative binomial-, binary logistic-, and multiple linear regression, and cross-lagged panel models. Analyses of dimensionality revealed that a distinction had to be made between Grocery stores, a location visited by most, and locations visited by few (e.g., "Pub," "Restaurants," "Sports event"). We merged the latter set of variables into a countscore denoted as "Crowded places." On the predictor side, 25 items were reduced to eight meanscores. Analyses of data from Wave 1 revealed a rather strong prediction of "Crowded places" and weaker associations with "Supermarket or other store for food." Across waves, in multiple negative binomial regression models, three meanscore predictors turned out to be consistently associated with "Crowded places." These include "Response effectiveness of individual action," "Self-efficacy with regard to avoiding people," and "Barriers." In a prospective cross-lagged model, a combined Response effectiveness and Self-efficacy score (Cognition) predicted behavior ("Visited or intended to visit crowded places") prospectively and vice versa. The results of this study suggest some potential to reduce people's visits to crowded locations during the pandemic through health education and behavior change approaches that focus on strengthening individuals' perceived response effectiveness and self-efficacy.

Short-Term Associations between Size-Fractioned Particles and Cardiopulmonary Function in COPD Patients: A Panel Study in Shanghai, China, during 2014-2021.

It remains unknown which size fractions dominate the adverse cardiopulmonary effects of particulate matter (PM). Therefore, this study aimed to explore the differential associations between size-fractioned particle number concentrations (PNCs) and cardiopulmonary function measures, including the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), the forced vital capacity (FVC), and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). We conducted a panel study among 211 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Shanghai, China, between January 2014 and December 2021. We applied linear mixed-effect models to determine the associations between cardiopulmonary function measures and PNCs ranging from 0.01 to 10 µm in diameter. Generally, only particles <1 µm showed significant associations, i.e., ultrafine particles (UFPs, <0.1 µm) for FVC and particles ranging from 0.1 to 1 µm for FEV1 and LVEF. An interquartile range (IQR) increment in UFP was associated with decreases of 78.4 mL in FVC. PNC0.1-0.3 and PNC0.3-1 corresponded to the strongest effects on FEV1 (119.5 mL) and LVEF (1.5%) per IQR increment. Particles <1 µm might dominate the cardiopulmonary toxicity of PM, but UFPs might not always have the strongest effect. Tailored regulations towards particles <1 µm should be intensified to reduce PM pollution and protect vulnerable populations.

Interactive Compensation Effects of Physical Activity and Sleep on Mental Health: A Longitudinal Panel Study among Chinese College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Physical activity (PA) and sleep are both important to mental health. However, their joint effects on mental distress have not been well explored. The aim of this study was to investigate the joint effects of PA and sleep on mental health, as well as the dose-response relationships between PA and mental health under different sleep health statuses. A longitudinal panel study was adopted to evaluate the relationship between PA, sleep, and mental health among 66 healthy Chinese college students with four online questionnaire surveys. A mixed-effect model with individual-level random effect was used to analyze the interactive regulation effect of PA and sleep on mental health, and a generalized additive model with splines was further fitted to analyze dose-response relationships between variables. When sleep was at a healthy level, no significant difference in mental health was observed between different levels of PA (p > 0.05). However, poor sleepers with moderate and high PA levels indicated significantly fewer negative emotions than those with low PA levels (p = 0.001, p = 0.004). Likewise, poor sleepers who engaged in more moderate intensity PA could significantly reduce negative emotions (ß = -0.470, p = 0.011) in a near-linear trend. In summary, both sleep and PA benefit mental health, and they probably regulate mental health through an interactive compensation mode. For good and poor sleepers, PA plays a different role in maintaining and improving mental health. Increasing moderate intensity PA up to moderate-and-high levels is recommended for those who simultaneously suffer from sleep and psychological health problems.

The prevalence of insomnia in different COVID-19 policy phases: Longitudinal evidence from ITA.LI - Italian Lives.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated changes in the prevalence of insomnia in Italy during COVID-19, starting from the first lockdown period (8 March 2020). We hypothesized that lockdown precipitated increased prevalence of insomnia symptoms relative to the pre-pandemic period; b) the gradual relaxation of containment measures - post-lockdown period (Phase 2 and Phase 3) - reduced insomnia severity, leading to a relative recovery of pre-pandemic levels; and c) we tested age-related heterogeneity in sleep responses, with an expected higher increase in insomnia in younger and middle-age groups. METHODS: Analyses drew on a subsample (N = 883) of respondents to ITA.LI - Italian Lives, a recently established panel study on a probability sample of individuals aged 16 + living in Italy. To estimate patterns of change in insomnia, we first fitted a random-effects ordered logistic model on the whole sample. We then added an interaction term between policy phases and the respondent age to test whether the relationship between insomnia and policy phases differed across age groups. Analyses accounted for survey non-response weights. RESULTS: The fraction of respondents reporting moderate ("somewhat" + 0.159, S.E. 0.017) or severe ("very much" + 0.142, S.E. 0.030) sleep disturbances significantly increased during Phase 1. The prevalence of insomnia followed an inverted U-shaped curve across policy phases, with further increases from baseline levels ("somewhat" + 0.168, S.E. 0.015; "very much" + 0.187, S.E. 0.030) during Phase 2, followed by a relative reduction in Phase 3, although it remained significantly higher than in the pre-pandemic period ("somewhat", + 0.084, S.E. 0.016; "very much", + 0.045, S.E. 0.010). There were significant age-related differences in insomnia patterns, as the discrete change from pre-pandemic levels in the probability of not suffering from insomnia was negative and significant for the younger age group (- 0.269, S.E. 0.060) and for respondents aged 35-54 (- 0.163, S.E. 0.039). CONCLUSION: There is reason to believe that the emergency policy response to the COVID-19 crisis may have had unintended and possibly scarring effects in terms of increased prevalence of insomnia. The hardest hit were young adults and, to a lesser extent, the middle-aged; however, older respondents (55 +) remained resilient, and their insomnia trajectory bounced back to pre-pandemic levels.

Living with COVID-19: Subjective Well-Being in the Second Phase of the Pandemic.

While there is ample evidence of the decline in mental health among youth during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, less is known about the determinants of recovery, which is the focus of this study. Drawing on a stress process framework, this study examines the associations of changes in direct, pandemic-related, and indirect, lockdown-related stressors with life satisfaction. A novel representative, longitudinal sample of British 16-25-year-olds is used, drawing on 6 data collections between February 2021 to May 2022 (N = 6000, 51% female, 24% ethnic minority, 46% in work, 35% with higher education). Using linear fixed-effects regression models, the findings suggest a substantial improvement in life satisfaction among youth. An increasing frequency of social contacts, receding worries about career prospects and job skills learning contributed significantly to increases in life satisfaction, whereas direct, health-related COVID-19 stressors did not affect life satisfaction. Sub-group analysis suggests that women's, adolescents', and students' life satisfaction responded more strongly to the stressors considered in this study. The findings highlight the positive effects of less stringent lockdown restrictions, economic recovery, and opportunities for job skills learning on youth's happiness.

Climate concern and policy acceptance before and after COVID-19.

It remains unclear how COVID-19 has affected public engagement with the climate crisis. According to the finite-pool-of-worry hypothesis, concern about climate change should have decreased after the pandemic, in turn reducing climate-policy acceptance. Here we test these and several other conjectures by using survey data from 1172 Spanish participants who responded before and after the first wave of COVID-19, allowing for both aggregate and within-person analyses. We find that on average climate concern has decreased, while acceptance of most climate policies has increased. At the individual-level, adverse health experiences are unrelated to these changes. The same holds for negative economic experiences, with the exception that unemployment is associated with reduced acceptance of some policies. Complementary to the finite-pool-of-worry test, we examine three additional pandemic-related issues. As we find, (1) higher climate concern and policy acceptance are associated with a belief that climate change contributed to the COVID-19 outbreak; (2) higher policy acceptance is associated with a positive opinion about how the government addressed the COVID-19 crisis; (3) citizens show favorable attitudes to a carbon tax with revenues used to compensate COVID-19-related expenditures. Overall, we conclude there is support for addressing the global climate crisis even during a global health crisis.

Nonprofit organization communication, crisis planning, and strategic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Nonprofit organizations have somewhat different foci, contexts, and resources than typical for-profit organizations, so may have experienced and responded to COVID-19 in ways not covered in traditional corporate research. We investigate the influence of nonprofit organizations' communication support and use, crisis experience and preparation, and extent and impacts of COVID-19 on their strategic responses to the crisis (from retrenchment to perseverance to innovation). Our study is a longitudinal panel survey conducted with 578?U.S. public charities, once before the pandemic and the other 6 months into it. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to characterize the sample, and hierarchical regressions to assess the influences on strategic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A major finding is that communication with external stakeholders predicted organizations' abilities to maintain core activities (perseverance) during a crisis and to pivot (innovating) on mission delivery. Practical applications for nonprofit organizations are addressed, with particular attention to COVID-19.

The effect of food insecurity during college on graduation and type of degree attained: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal survey.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of food insecurity during college on graduation and degree attainment. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of longitudinal panel data. We measured food insecurity concurrent with college enrolment using the 18-question United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey Module. Educational attainment was measured in 2015-2017 via two questions about college completion and highest degree attained. Logistic and multinomial logit models adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics were estimated. SETTING: USA. PARTICIPANTS: A nationally representative, balanced panel of 1574 college students in the USA in 1999-2003 with follow-up through 2015-2017 from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. RESULTS: In 1999-2003, 14·5 % of college students were food-insecure and were more likely to be older, non-White and first-generation students. In adjusted models, food insecurity was associated with lower odds of college graduation (OR 0·57, 95 % CI: 0·37, 0·88, P = 0·01) and lower likelihood of obtaining a bachelor's degree (relative risk ratio (RRR) 0·57 95 % CI: 0·35, 0·92, P = 0·02) or graduate/professional degree (RRR 0·39, 95 % CI: 0·17, 0·86, P = 0·022). These associations were more pronounced among first-generation students. And 47·2 % of first-generation students who experienced food insecurity graduated from college; food-insecure first-generation students were less likely to graduate compared to first-generation students who were food-secure (47·2 % v. 59·3 %, P = 0·020) and non-first-generation students who were food-insecure (47·2 % v. 65·2 %, P = 0·037). CONCLUSIONS: Food insecurity during college is a barrier to graduation and higher-degree attainment, particularly for first-generation students. Existing policies and programmes that help mitigate food insecurity should be expanded and more accessible to the college student population.

Working times in Germany: Representative results from the BAuA-Working Time Survey

Introduction: In a changing world of work, aspects of working times reflect changes and trends of work and private lives. Working times play a key role for employees’ health and well-being. Thus, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) initiated the biennial BAuA-Working Time Survey (WTS) in 2015 to describe working time realities in Germany as well as to investigate relationships of working time, health and well-being of employees. Material and Methods: The BAuA-WTS includes various aspects of working time arrangements, but also other working conditions as well as health and job satisfaction in a Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI). There are special modules on key topics in each wave. The fourth wave of the panel study will be finished by the end of 2021 and deals with the Corona pandemic. Results: We give an overview on working time duration and overtime, shiftwork and weekend work, working time control, variability of working time, on-call work and permanent availability. The results show that several working time demands are quite common in Germany, such as weekend work and working overtime. Conclusions: The BAuA-WTS constitutes a long term project with the aim to provide representative, reliable and longitudinal data on working time and its consequences for German employees. Actual challenges of working time organizations are - next to globalization and digitization - the socio-ecological transformation and the Corona pandemic. The BAuA-WTS is tracking these changes to ignite discussions about healthy working time organization in the scientific and political debate.

Trust in Science, Perceived Media Exaggeration About COVID-19, and Social Distancing Behavior.

For many individuals, the media function as a primary source of information about preventative measures to combat COVID-19. However, a considerable number of citizens believe that the media coverage about pandemics is exaggerated. Although the perception of media exaggeration may be highly consequential for individual health behaviors, we lack research on the drivers and consequences of this perception. In a two-wave panel study, we examined associations between trust in science, perceptions of media exaggeration about COVID-19, and social distancing behavior during the lockdown in Austria (NT2 = 416). Results showed that trust in science at T1 led to less perceptions of media exaggeration about COVID-19 at T2. Furthermore, consistent with the theory of psychological reactance, perceptions of media exaggeration about COVID-19 at T1 caused less social distancing behavior at T2. Thus, findings suggest that trust in science may positively affect individuals' social distancing behavior by decreasing perceived media exaggeration about COVID-19 over time. Implications for research on media effects in times of COVID-19 and conclusions for journalists are discussed.

You are not alone: Smartphone use, friendship satisfaction, and anxiety during the COVID-19 crisis.

Due to 'stay-at-home' measures, individuals increasingly relied on smartphones for social connection and for obtaining information about the COVID-19 pandemic. In a two-wave panel survey (N Time2 = 416), we investigated associations between different types of smartphone use (i.e., communicative and non-communicative), friendship satisfaction, and anxiety during the first lockdown in Austria. Our findings revealed that communicative smartphone use increased friendship satisfaction over time, validating how smartphones can be a positive influence in difficult times. Friendship satisfaction decreased anxiety after one month, signaling the importance of strong friendship networks during the crisis. Contrary to our expectations, non-communicative smartphone use had no effects on friendship satisfaction or anxiety over time. Reciprocal effects showed that anxiety increased both types of smartphone use over time. These findings are discussed in the context of mobile media effects related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longitudinal Relationships Among Fear of COVID-19, Smartphone Online Self-Disclosure, Happiness, and Psychological Well-being: Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Given that governmental prevention measures restricted most face-to-face communications, online self-disclosure via smartphones emerged as an alternative coping strategy that aimed at reducing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people's psychological health. Prepandemic research demonstrated that online self-disclosure benefits people's psychological health by establishing meaningful relationships, obtaining social support, and achieving self-acceptance, particularly in times of crisis. However, it is unclear whether these dynamics transition well to lockdown conditions where online self-disclosure must stand almost entirely on its own. Longitudinal investigations are needed to gain insights into the psychological functionalities of online self-disclosure during the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the temporal associations between smartphone online self-disclosure (as a communicative behavior) and critical indicators of psychological health (including psychopathological, as well as hedonic and eudaimonic states) during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Austria. METHODS: We conducted a representative 2-wave panel survey between late March/April 2020 and May 2020. A total of 416 participants completed both waves (43.1% attrition rate, given n=731 participants who completed the first wave). A partially metric measurement invariant overtime structural equation model was used to determine the temporal associations among online self-disclosure, fear of COVID-19, happiness, and psychological well-being. RESULTS: The analysis revealed that fear of COVID-19 significantly predicted online self-disclosure over time (b=0.24, P=.003) and happiness over time (b=-0.14, P=.04), but not psychological well-being (b=0.03, P=.48), that is, stronger COVID-19 fears at T1 prompted more online self-disclosure and less happiness at T2. Online self-disclosure, on the other hand, significantly predicted happiness (b=0.09, P=.02), but neither fear of COVID-19 (b=-0.01, P=.57) nor psychological well-being (b=-0.01, P=.57) over time. Participants who engaged more strongly in online self-disclosure at T1 felt happier at T2, but they did not differ from less-disclosing participants concerning COVID-19 fears and psychological well-being at T2. Importantly, happiness and psychological well-being were significantly related over time (happiness T1 → psychological well-being T2: b=0.11, P<.001; psychological well-being T1 → happiness T2: b=0.42, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that online self-disclosure might play a pivotal role in coping with pandemic stressors. With restrictions on their options, individuals increasingly turn to their smartphones and social media to disclose their feelings, problems, and concerns during lockdown. While online self-disclosure might not alleviate fears or improve psychological well-being, our results demonstrate that it made people experience more happiness during this crisis. This psychological resource may help them withstand the severe psychological consequences of the COVID-19 crisis over longer timeframes.

Decreasing mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study among Danes before and during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on people's lives and may influence mental health in the general population. In a unique representative Danish longitudinal study, we examined mental well-being measured just before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Danish Health and Wellbeing Survey is the Danish contribution to the European Health Interview Survey. In this study, we included the wave from autumn 2019, which we re-invited in the autumn 2020. The study population consisted of 4,234 persons. The main outcome was mental well-being measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). Linear and logistic regression models were conducted to evaluate change in SWEMWBS between 2019 and 2020. The SWEMWBS distribution was similar in 2019 and 2020, although the distribution moved to lower scores in 2020 compared to 2019. Mean SWEMWBS decreased significantly from 25.5 in 2019 to 24.6 in 2020 corresponding to a mean change of -1.0 (95%CI, -1.1. to -0.8). The proportion with low SWEMWBS increased from 16.5% in 2019 to 20.1% in 2020 (p < 0.001). The mean change was similar for men and women and for different age groups. The most negative development was observed among persons without depression or long-standing illnesses at baseline and among persons with higher educational level. Among persons with depression SWEMWBS increased. As expected, mental well-being significantly decreased in the adult Danish population during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, somewhat more unexpectedly, the decrease was most pronounced among persons without depression or long-standing illnesses and among higher educated groups.

Perfectionism and Burnout During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Two-Wave Cross-Lagged Study.

The current study aims at examining the relationship between the perfectionism two-factor model (i.e., concerns and strivings) and burnout dimensions measured by using the BAT (Burnout Assessment Tool) through a longitudinal study. A two-wave cross-lagged study was conducted using path analysis in SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) of 191 workers. Results confirmed the predictive role of perfectionistic concerns on the burnout dimensions, whereas perfectionistic strivings were not significantly related, suggesting that perfectionism should be monitored by employers and clinicians to prevent employee burnout. Limitations and future research directions are envisaged.

Protocol of a population-based prospective COVID-19 cohort study Munich, Germany (KoCo19).

BACKGROUND: Due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, public health interventions have been introduced globally in order to prevent the spread of the virus and avoid the overload of health care systems, especially for the most severely affected patients. Scientific studies to date have focused primarily on describing the clinical course of patients, identifying treatment options and developing vaccines. In Germany, as in many other regions, current tests for SARS-CoV2 are not conducted on a representative basis and in a longitudinal design. Furthermore, knowledge about the immune status of the population is lacking. Nonetheless, these data are needed to understand the dynamics of the pandemic and hence to appropriately design and evaluate interventions. For this purpose, we recently started a prospective population-based cohort in Munich, Germany, with the aim to develop a better understanding of the state and dynamics of the pandemic. METHODS: In 100 out of 755 randomly selected constituencies, 3000 Munich households are identified via random route and offered enrollment into the study. All household members are asked to complete a baseline questionnaire and subjects ≥14 years of age are asked to provide a venous blood sample of ≤3 ml for the determination of SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgA status. The residual plasma and the blood pellet are preserved for later genetic and molecular biological investigations. For twelve months, each household member is asked to keep a diary of daily symptoms, whereabouts and contacts via WebApp. If symptoms suggestive for COVID-19 are reported, family members, including children < 14 years, are offered a pharyngeal swab taken at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, LMU University Hospital Munich, for molecular testing for SARS-CoV-2. In case of severe symptoms, participants will be transferred to a Munich hospital. For one year, the study teams re-visits the households for blood sampling every six weeks. DISCUSSION: With the planned study we will establish a reliable epidemiological tool to improve the understanding of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and to better assess the effectiveness of public health measures as well as their socio-economic effects. This will support policy makers in managing the epidemic based on scientific evidence.