The Characteristics of the Financially Vulnerable Groups Impacted by COVID-19 and Other Factors

Businesses have been exposed to various challenges during the global pandemic. Unfortunately, the financially vulnerable groups in society are disproportionately affected by such a difficult time. Therefore, it is important for businesses to recognise this when creating new business models for sustainable corporate management. This paper attempts to (1) identify the factors that affect individual financial vulnerability, (2) develop survey items to assess financial vulnerability and its factors and (3) provide the characteristics of financially vulnerable groups by presenting a complete set of descriptive statistics. The results can help to create more inclusive business models that are better equipped to address the challenges ahead. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with collaboration with an NGO that provides a financial counselling service in Hong Kong. In total, 338 valid responses were collected and the data were used to characterise financially vulnerable groups in terms of (1) change in financial conditions due to COVID-19;(2) exposure to digitised financial services and related push marketing;(3) financial management ability;(4) changes in four financial behaviours and (5) financial vulnerability as measured according to the debt/service ratio. Results show that the respondents have a median debt/service ratio of 0.513, which represents an unsustainable level of debt. Around 1/4 of surveyed respondents reported that their debt/service ratio was 1 or even higher, indicating obvious difficulties in meeting financial obligations. A total of 36.7% of the respondents reported worsening financial conditions since the outbreak of COVID-19. The results presented provide a solid empirical set of data that will help future research work to examine and/or develop a heuristic financial vulnerability model that incorporates the key factors leading to it. Businesses can refer to them when creating new business models that are sustainable, able to meet corporate social responsibility goals and can achieve several targets/goals of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

The Effect of Primary School Education on Preventive Behaviours during COVID-19 in Japan

Education plays a critical role in promoting preventive behaviours against the spread of pandemics. In Japan, handwashing education in primary schools was positively correlated with preventive behaviours against COVID-19 transmission for adults in 2020, during the early stages of COVID-19. The following year, the Tokyo Olympics were held in Japan, and a state of emergency was declared several times. Public perceptions of and risks associated with the pandemic changed drastically with the emergence of COVID-19 vaccines. We re-examined whether the effect of handwashing education on preventive behaviours persisted by covering a longer period of the COVID-19 pandemic than previous studies. A total of 26 surveys were conducted nearly once a month for 30 months from March 2020 (the early stage of COVID-19) to September 2022 in Japan. By corresponding with the same individuals across surveys, we comprehensively gathered data on preventive behaviours during this period. In addition, we asked about the handwashing education they had received in their primary school. We used the data to investigate how and to what degree school education is associated with pandemic-mitigating preventive behaviours. We found that handwashing education in primary school is positively associated with behaviours such as handwashing and mask wearing as a COVID-19 preventive measure but not related to staying at home. We observed a statistically significant difference in handwashing between adults who received childhood handwashing education and those who did not. This difference persisted throughout the study period. In comparison, the difference in mask wearing between the two groups was smaller but still statistically significant. Furthermore, there was no difference in staying at home between them. Childhood hygiene education has resulted in individuals engaging in handwashing and mask wearing to cope with COVID-19. Individuals can form sustainable development-related habits through childhood education.

Mobility and Recovery in Europe: Impact of the Covid-19 Crisis A European Comparative Analysis

Further to a first benchmark study covering new mobility behaviours and their impact on the road infrastructure, carried out by the European Union Road Federation (ERF), the Confederation of International Contractor's Associations (CICA), the French Federation of Public Works (FNTP), the European Construction Industry federation (FIEC) and Routes de France in 2019-2020, the same group published a second study in September 2021. The objective of that second study was to give a picture of the impact of the crisis caused by the pandemic on the mobility and transport sectors in 11 European countries (Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) The approach was to compare the evolution of mobility before and after the emergence of the health crisis. In addition, it would analyse the way in which European countries have adapted their support for transport infrastructures, further to an analysis of National Recovery and Resilience Plans, based on the European Recovery Plan ("Next Generation EU"). Beyond the main trends observed and their impact on mobility patterns and habits, the group also made recommendations on the role of road in the global mobility framework and the necessary adaptation of the road transport infrastructure. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

The influence of Covid-19 on consumer behaviour: a bibliometric review analysis and text mining

Purpose: This paper is a bibliometric analysis of articles published on the influence of Covid-19 on consumer behaviour. Design/methodology/approach: Biblioshiny and VOSviewer applications are employed for the bibliometric analysis and visualisation, respectively. Findings: The most influential documents, authors, affiliations, countries and journals are presented. Citation, Co-citation and keyword co-occurrence analysis is conducted and presented in the form of a clustered network diagram. Practical implications: This paper found three main themes of the research in consumer behaviour amid Covid-19 a) Food purchasing decisions and food wastage, b) Adoption of technology and c) Intrinsic and extrinsic influence on consumer behaviour. Social implications: The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the world's economy and left behind its adverse effect on almost every walk of life. Consumer behaviour is no exception, studies have reported paradigm shifts in the way consumers are reacting to marketing stimuli, making purchase and consumption decisions. For the marketers to sustain profitability, they need to understand the changing behaviour and tailor their offerings accordingly. Originality/value: The article offers the emerging theme and sub-themes in the consumer behaviour research that leads to future expansion of this research domain. © 2023, Abu Bashar, Brighton Nyagadza, Neo Ligaraba and Eugine Tafadzwa Maziriri.

Mental health in relation to changes in sleep, exercise, alcohol and diet during the COVID-19 pandemic: examination of four UK cohort studies.

BACKGROUND: Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have included lockdowns and social distancing with considerable disruptions to people's lives. These changes may have particularly impacted on those with mental health problems, leading to a worsening of inequalities in the behaviours which influence health. METHODS: We used data from four national longitudinal British cohort studies (N = 10 666). Respondents reported mental health (psychological distress and anxiety/depression symptoms) and health behaviours (alcohol, diet, physical activity and sleep) before and during the pandemic. Associations between pre-pandemic mental ill-health and pandemic mental ill-health and health behaviours were examined using logistic regression; pooled effects were estimated using meta-analysis. RESULTS: Worse mental health was related to adverse health behaviours; effect sizes were largest for sleep, exercise and diet, and weaker for alcohol. The associations between poor mental health and adverse health behaviours were larger during the May lockdown than pre-pandemic. In September, when restrictions had eased, inequalities had largely reverted to pre-pandemic levels. A notable exception was for sleep, where differences by mental health status remained high. Risk differences for adverse sleep for those with the highest level of prior mental ill-health compared to those with the lowest were 21.2% (95% CI 16.2-26.2) before lockdown, 25.5% (20.0-30.3) in May and 28.2% (21.2-35.2) in September. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our findings suggest that mental health is an increasingly important factor in health behaviour inequality in the COVID era. The promotion of mental health may thus be an important component of improving post-COVID population health.

Impact of Nationwide Lockdowns Resulting from The First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Intake, Eating Behaviours and Diet Quality: A Systematic Review.

The lockdowns resulting from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted deeply on all life activities, including diet. We performed a systematic review to investigate changes in food intake, eating behaviours and diet quality during lockdown as compared to before. A literature search was performed using three electronic databases from inception until June 13, 2021. Observational studies evaluating changes in general populations during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown were eligible. Out of 1,963 studies achieved from the search strategy, 95 met inclusion criteria (85 on adults, 10 on children/adolescents), and the majority were of high quality (72.6%). Most of the studies were web-based surveys using convenience sampling, mainly focused on variations in the consumption of foods and eating behaviours during lockdown, whereas only 15 studies analysed diet quality through dietary indices. On the basis of the definition of a healthful diet as reflected by a traditional Mediterranean diet, an increase in recommended foods such as fruit and vegetables, legumes, cereals and olive oil was observed, although a sharp decrease in fish intake and an increase in dairy products were documented. Accordingly, a reduction in foods that should be eaten less frequently was reported, namely, red and processed meat. However, a higher consumption of unhealthy foods (e.g., snacks and sweets) was also observed. Results indicated improved diet quality in Europe, especially among Mediterranean countries, with the exception of France, while a switching to poor nutrient patterns was observed in Colombia and Saudi Arabia. Analyses of eating behaviours suggest an increase in food intake, number of daily meals and snacking. In conclusion, changes in intake of major food groups, apart from fish intake, were in line with the definition of a traditional Mediterranean diet, indicating a consistent moderate improvement of dietary habits worldwide. This review protocol was registered at https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/ as CRD42020225292.

Toward a causal link between attachment styles and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has shown that insecure attachment, especially attachment anxiety, is associated with poor mental health outcomes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other research suggests that insecure attachment may be linked to nonadherence to social distancing behaviours during the pandemic. AIMS: The present study aims to examine the causal links between attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant), mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, loneliness) and adherence to social distancing behaviours during the first several months of the UK lockdown (between April and August 2020). MATERIALS & METHODS: We used a nationally representative UK sample (cross-sectional n = 1325; longitudinal n = 950). The data were analysed using state-of-the-art causal discovery and targeted learning algorithms to identify causal processes. RESULTS: The results showed that insecure attachment styles were causally linked to poorer mental health outcomes, mediated by loneliness. Only attachment avoidance was causally linked to nonadherence to social distancing guidelines. DISCUSSION: Future interventions to improve mental health outcomes should focus on mitigating feelings of loneliness. Limitations include no access to pre-pandemic data and the use of categorical attachment measure. CONCLUSION: Insecure attachment is a risk factor for poorer mental health outcomes.

A cross-sectional study of knowledge, attitude, behaviour and preventive measures for COVID-19 infection in Lebanon.

Background: The World Health Organization has often reiterated its recommendations for the prevention of COVID-19, however, the success of these measures largely depends on public knowledge and attitudes. Aims: This study assessed the relationship between knowledge, attitude, behaviour and preventive measures for COVID-19 infection in a Lebanese population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between September and October 2020 using the snowball sampling technique and an online self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire had 4 parts targeting sociodemographic characteristics; medical history; knowledge, attitude and practices (preventive measures and behaviours related to COVID-19); and mental health variables such as psychological distress. Two models were derived using multivariable binomial logistic regression to optimize the picture of COVID-19 correlates. Results: Our sample comprised 1119 adults. Being older, female, a regular alcohol consumer, waterpipe smoker, having low level of education, low family income, and having contact with a COVID-19 patient correlated with increased odds of ever having been diagnosed with COVID-19. Participants who had ever been diagnosed with COVID-19 had a significantly better knowledge and a higher risky practice scale [adjusted odds ratio (ORa) = 1.49; 95% CI 1.27-1.74; P < 0.001; and ORa = 1.04; 95% CI 1.01-1.08; P = 0.024, respectively]. Conclusion: The most important predictors of COVID-19 infection appear to be generally well-known among the general population, however, their knowledge and adherence to preventive measures should be continuously re-evaluated. This study highlights the need for greater awareness to improve precautionary behaviours among the public.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on inequalities in lifestyle behaviours and mental health and wellbeing of elementary school children in northern Canada.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected children's lifestyle behaviours and mental health and wellbeing, and concerns have been raised that COVID-19 has also increased health inequalities. No study to date has quantified the impact of COVID-19 on health inequalities among children. We compared pre-pandemic vs. post-lockdown inequalities in lifestyle behaviours and mental health and wellbeing among children living in rural and remote northern communities. Methods: We surveyed 473 grade 4-6 students (9-12 years of age) from 11 schools in rural and remote communities in northern Canada in 2018 (pre-pandemic), and 443 grade 4-6 students from the same schools in 2020 (post-lockdown). The surveys included questions on sedentary behaviours, physical activity, dietary intake, and mental health and wellbeing. We measured inequality in these behaviors using the Gini coefficient, a unitless measure ranging from 0 to 1 with a higher value indicating greater inequality. We used temporal changes (2020 vs. 2018) in Gini coefficients to assess the impact of COVID-19 on inequalities in lifestyle behaviours and mental health and wellbeing separately among girls and boys. Results: Inequalities in all examined lifestyle behaviours increased between 2018 and 2020. Inequalities in watching TV, playing video games, and using a cell phone increased among girls, while inequalities in playing video games, using computers and tablets, and consumption of sugar, salt, saturated fat and total fat increased among boys. Changes in inequalities in mental health and wellbeing were small and not statistically significant. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities in lifestyle behaviours among children living in rural and remote northern communities. If not addressed, these differences may translate into exacerbated inequalities in future health. The findings further suggest that school health programs can help mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on lifestyle behaviours and mental health and wellbeing.

Resilience in adolescence during the COVID-19 crisis in Canada.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a social crisis that will have long-term health consequences for much of the global population, especially for adolescents. Adolescents are triply affected as they: 1) are experiencing its immediate, direct effects, 2) will carry forward health habits they develop now into adulthood, and 3) as future parents, will shape the early life health of the next generation. It is therefore imperative to assess how the pandemic is influencing adolescent wellbeing, identify sources of resilience, and outline strategies for attenuating its negative impacts. METHODS: We report the results of longitudinal analyses of qualitative data from 28 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 39 Canadian adolescents and of cross-sectional analyses of survey data from 482 Canadian adolescents gathered between September 2020 and August 2021. FGD participants and survey respondents reported on their: socio-demographic characteristics; mental health and wellbeing before and during the pandemic; pre- and during-pandemic health behaviours; experiences living through a crisis; current perceptions of their school, work, social, media, and governmental environments; and ideas about pandemic coping and mutual aid. We plotted themes emerging from FGDs along a pandemic timeline, noting socio-demographic variations. Following assessment for internal reliability and dimension reduction, quantitative health/wellbeing indicators were analyzed as functions of composite socio-demographic, health-behavioural, and health-environmental indicators. RESULTS: Our mixed methods analyses indicate that adolescents faced considerable mental and physical health challenges due to the pandemic, and were generally in poorer health than expected in non-crisis times. Nevertheless, some participants showed significantly better outcomes than others, specifically those who: got more exercise; slept better; were food secure; had clearer routines; spent more time in nature, deep in-person social relationships, and leisure; and spent less time on social media. CONCLUSIONS: Support for youth during times of crisis is essential to future population health because adolescence is a period in the life course which shapes the health behaviours, socio-economic capacities, and neurophysiology of these future parents/carers and leaders. Efforts to promote resilience in adolescents should leverage the factors identified above: helping them find structure and senses of purpose through strong social connections, well-supported work and leisure environments, and opportunities to engage with nature.

Anxiety, preventive behaviours and perceptions of COVID-19 in Peru

The aim of the present study was to describe the differences between participants who reported experiencing anxiety related to COVID 19 and those who did not. We also analysed how preventive behaviours and perceptions are linked to anxiety in the face of COVID-19. The sample involved 438 participants from Peru. An online survey method using the LimeSurvey platform was used. The results showed significant differences between the groups with and without anxiety, with respect to gender, perceived threats, degree of confidence in the information and self-confidence in COVID-19. Anxiety was significantly correlated with perceived threats. No significant differences were found with respect to age, educational level, economic income, religion, preventive behaviours, evidence-based and mythologized perceptions, and probability of contagion. Considering these findings, the importance of preventive behaviours and access to reliable and appropriate information to reduce psychological distress is discussed.

Understanding occupancy pattern of university libraries in the post-pandemic era

Understanding indoor occupancy patterns is crucial for energy model calibration, efficient operations of fresh air systems, and COVID-19 exposure risk assessment. University libraries, as one of centers of campus life, due to the high mobility and "foot-voting” nature of them, i.e., occupants pick seats in the micro-environments they prefer, provide a non-intrusive opportunity to carry out post-occupancy evaluations. We conducted a long-term online monitoring of occupancy in libraries of a university in China by web-crawling the online seat reservation system, based on which, we constructed two sets of databases consisting of around 70 million records of nearly 3, 000 seats in 4 library sections, with seat-level resolution and sampling frequency up to every 10 seconds. The informative data set depicts not only the overall spatio-temporal occupancy patterns, but also nuances hidden within seats and visits. The daily flow of the main libraries exceeded two visits per seat. Half of the visitors stayed at the libraries for 3-6 hours during a single occupancy. Semester schedules and campus accessibility together influence students' decisions on when and which library to go, while even within the same zone, some seats were always more popular than their neighbours. "Semi-isolation” is one of the candidate attractive features proposed to understand the underlying patterns. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

Local Government Managers' Change-Oriented Leadership and Employees' Change-Supportive Behaviour During COVID-19: Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Past research has provided important insights on the role of public leaders in fostering employees' change-related behaviour, but the psychological mechanisms and boundary conditions underlying this relationship remain unclear. This research relies on the theory of planned behaviour and the value-congruence model to shed light on when and how local government managers' change-oriented leadership influences employees' change-supportive behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on survey data collected from 758 local government employees in Thailand, our structural equation modelling analyses revealed that local government managers' change-oriented leadership had a positive relationship with employees' change-supportive behaviour via the mediating roles of employees' attitude for change, perceived climate for change and self-efficacy for change. Furthermore, perceived value congruence between managers and employees was found to enhance the indirect relationship between change-oriented leadership and change-supportive behaviour. This research highlights the importance of change-oriented leadership and value alignment in fostering change-related behaviours among government employees. © 2023 The University of Hong Kong.

Facing Vulnerability and Mobilizing Resilience: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Speakers of Indigenous Languages in Mexico and Their Protective Behaviours

Although the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been devastating to societies at large, Indigenous groups have been disproportionately affected, a fact which is reflected globally in the rates of COVID-19-related deaths. Indigenous and minority communities are particularly vulnerable during this health crisis due to systemic discrimination and poverty and a lack of access to adequate medical care. This chapter reports the results of the pandemic-related survey carried out between June 2020 and January 2021 among Indigenous groups in Mexico, a country in which the disease's impact has been particularly harsh. The ethnic groups whose representatives participated in our survey survived colonial depopulation caused by deadly epidemics and many forms of exploitation. They have been subjected to the intense assimilation policy implemented by the independent Mexican state as well as widespread racism and discrimination. The survey assessed the physical and psychological impacts of the pandemic, including how it has affected heritage language use, access to health services, experienced discrimination and protective behaviours. A majority of the Indigenous respondents acknowledged a strong similarity between the epidemics that decimated local populations in the colonial period and the pandemic of the "Spanish flu” of 1918-1919, on the one hand, and the present pandemic, on the other. Our study shows that this historical awareness may indeed act as a protective factor favouring more rational behaviours during the present health crisis. We argue that the respondents who identified as Indigenous had higher levels of resilience and protective behaviours during the pandemic than participants who identified themselves exclusively as "Mexican.”. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Mobility and Recovery in Europe: Impact of the Covid-19 Crisis A European Comparative Analysis

Further to a first benchmark study covering new mobility behaviours and their impact on the road infrastructure, carried out by the European Union Road Federation (ERF), the Confederation of International Contractor's Associations (CICA), the French Federation of Public Works (FNTP), the European Construction Industry federation (FIEC) and Routes de France in 2019-2020, the same group published a second study in September 2021. The objective of that second study was to give a picture of the impact of the crisis caused by the pandemic on the mobility and transport sectors in 11 European countries (Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) The approach was to compare the evolution of mobility before and after the emergence of the health crisis. In addition, it would analyse the way in which European countries have adapted their support for transport infrastructures, further to an analysis of National Recovery and Resilience Plans, based on the European Recovery Plan ("Next Generation EU"). Beyond the main trends observed and their impact on mobility patterns and habits, the group also made recommendations on the role of road in the global mobility framework and the necessary adaptation of the road transport infrastructure. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.

Influence of setting-dependent contacts and protective behaviours on asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst members of a UK university.

We survey 62 users of a university asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 testing service on details of their activities, protective behaviours and contacts in the 7 days prior to receiving a positive or negative SARS-CoV-2 PCR test result in the period October 2020-March 2021. The resulting data set is novel in capturing very detailed social contact history linked to asymptomatic disease status during a period of significant restriction on social activities. We use this data to explore 3 questions: (i) Did participation in university activities enhance infection risk? (ii) How do contact definitions rank in their ability to explain test outcome during periods of social restrictions? (iii) Do patterns in the protective behaviours help explain discrepancies between the explanatory performance of different contact measures? We classify activities into settings and use Bayesian logistic regression to model test outcome, computing posterior model probabilities to compare the performance of models adopting different contact definitions. Associations between protective behaviours, participant characteristics and setting are explored at the level of individual activities using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). We find that participation in air travel or non-university work activities was associated with a positive asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 PCR test, in contrast to participation in research and teaching settings. Intriguingly, logistic regression models with binary measures of contact in a setting performed better than more traditional contact numbers or person contact hours (PCH). The MCA indicates that patterns of protective behaviours vary between setting, in a manner which may help explain the preference for any participation as a contact measure. We conclude that linked PCR testing and social contact data can in principle be used to test the utility of contact definitions, and the investigation of contact definitions in larger linked studies is warranted to ensure contact data can capture environmental and social factors influencing transmission risk.

The influence of environmental education on Omani students self-reported environmental attitudes and behaviours

The objective of this research is to consider the self-reported environmental attitudes and behaviours of Omani students and identify the factors that determine them. This research aims to explore the current environmental education curriculum in Oman. Specifically, this research is designed to identify school-related factors that might influence Omani students' self-reported environmental attitudes and behaviours. An explanatory sequential mixed method research design is adopted to gather information from primary and secondary sources. A questionnaire of 53 items was designed and tested on 212 students from four secondary schools in Oman, and then 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with students, teachers and heads from the same four secondary schools. The data generated from the questionnaires were analysed using two methods: descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. The data generated from the interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The major findings of this research indicate that the environmental curriculum appears to be a moderate contributor to environmental attitudes and behaviours, whereas environmental knowledge appears to be a positive contributor to environmental attitudes and behaviours. Overall, this study suggests that including environmental education in schools improves students' environmental attitudes and behaviours. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Research in Geographical & Environmental Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Sustaining youth physical activity in times of challenge and change: lessons from COVID-19.

Physical activity (PA) is recognized as essential for positive physical and mental well-being in young people. However, participation in PA is known to decline as adolescents emerge into adulthood under the influence of complex social and structural factors. Globally, COVID-19 restrictions resulted in changes to PA and PA participation levels in youth populations, providing a unique opportunity for gaining insight into PA barriers and enablers in circumstances of challenge, limitation and change. This article details young people's self-reported PA behaviours during the 4-week 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand. Taking a strengths-based view and drawing on the COM-B (capabilities, opportunity and motivation behaviour) model for behaviour change, the study explores factors enabling young people to sustain or increase PA during lockdown. Findings are drawn from qualitative-dominant mixed-methods analyses of responses to an online questionnaire: New Zealand Youth Voices Matter (16-24 years; N = 2014). Key insights included the importance of habit and routine, time and flexibility, social connections, incidental exercise and awareness of links between PA and well-being. Of note were the positive attitudes, creativity and resiliency demonstrated as young people substituted or invented alternatives to their usual PA. PA needs to change to adapt to new circumstances over the life course, and youth understanding and knowledge of modifiable factors may provide support for this. Thus these findings have implications for sustaining PA during late adolescence and emerging adulthood, a life phase that can be associated with significant challenge and change.

Teleworking and sustainable behaviour in the context of COVID-19: the case of Lithuania

COVID-19 played a significant role in the spread of telework worldwide, changing people's lives and behaviour. The paper aims to identify how teleworking affected the sustainable behaviour of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research design applies a multi-method approach, combining systematic and comparative scientific literature analysis and a semi-structured interview. The authors of the paper present the theoretical conceptual model, which illustrates links between teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic and the sustainable behaviour of employees. The results of empirical research revealed that teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic changed employee behaviour in economic, environmental and social dimensions. Positive changes were identified due to reduced commuting and shopping;decreased costs for transport, food, clothing, and beauty services;better access to healthy and nutritious food;better opportunities for professional development. On the contrary, costs for home energy and household waste increased. Adverse effects on employees' physical and mental health have been identified due to teleworking and COVID-19. Despite the identified negative effects, employees would like to continue teleworking even after the pandemic. © 2023 Ramunė Čiarnienė et al., published by Sciendo.