Stress and Depression in Ohio Social Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Buffering Role of Social Connectedness.

Although social workers have an elevated risk of infection with COVID-19, no previous studies have investigated the virus's impact on practitioners. Using survey data (N = 441), this study identified associations between stress, depression, and COVID-related factors and explored the role of social connectedness as a moderator for mental health among Ohio social workers. The results of the study showed that among social workers with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, 70 percent experienced moderate/high levels of stress, and 37 percent met the criteria for clinical depressive symptoms. Results from the multiple regression analyses showed that perceived stress was positively associated with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis for social workers, and depression was positively associated with working with a client with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. An interaction effect was also identified between social connectedness and social workers' mental health. These findings suggest that the provision of individual or organizational interventions that emphasize social connectedness can help to protect social workers' mental health.

The Effect of Face Mask and Approach Pattern on Interpersonal Distance in COVID-19 Pandemic Using VR Technology

In the COVID-19 pandemic, control measures including wearing masks, ensuring hand hygiene, and maintaining a physical distance of at least 1 m were recommended to prevent the spread of virus. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of face mask, approach pattern and participants’ gender on interpersonal distance in the pandemic environment. Virtual reality (VR) technology was applied to build the experimental environment. This study recruited 31 participants including 17 males and 14 females, who were asked to interact with virtual confederates with and without a face mask. The interpersonal distance was recorded when participants actively walk towards the virtual confederate or approached passively by the confederate. Three-way ANOVA results showed that face mask and approach pattern had significant effects on interpersonal distance. The distance when facing the confederate with a face mask was significantly closer than without a face mask. Moreover, participants preferred a significantly larger distance in the passive pattern than in the active pattern. The participants’ gender showed no significant effect on interpersonal distance and no interaction effects were found. The findings in this study helped to further investigate the nature of interpersonal distance and contributed to a better understanding of the human behaviors in the pandemic environment. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Evaluating Intertwined Effects of Emoji and Message Framing to Vaccine Communication Strategy

Under the circumstance of continuous variation of COVID-19 virus, verified the temporariness of the vaccines made by various countries. One cannot expect permanent protection by accepting only one dose of vaccine. In order to prepare and respond to the pandemic, many countries are applying different strategies to increase vaccination rates. The WHO appeals to the world to take the vaccine booster shot for community immunity. Relevant authorities then have to provide and spread visual health messages on the booster shot to keep the public informed. This study examine how unofficial organizations can guide and persuade people to adopt relevant health actions more effectively (such as continuous vaccination) by introducing emoji with different emotional valences in different message framing. An online experiment adopted a 2 (emoji: positive versus negative) × 2 (message framing: gain framing versus loss framing) design to investigate the effects of contrary emoji on people’s self-efficacy to continuously take the booster shot. In total of 240 university students were recruited to participate in this study. Within two types of message framing, the experiment simulated 4 pieces of health messages on the COVID-19 booster shot released by an unofficial organization, together with emoji of two emotional valences. The results showed that health messages with negative emoji result in stronger self-efficacy to user. Moreover, there is an interaction effect between emoji and message framing on self-efficacy. This study is intended to provide meaningful insights for health communicators, visual designers and health practitioners concerned. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Mediterranean Diet and Genetic Determinants of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in European Children and Adolescents.

Childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are multifactorial diseases influenced by genetic and environmental factors. The Mediterranean Diet (MD) seems to modulate the genetic predisposition to obesity or MetS in European adults. The FTO gene has also been shown to have an impact on the MD benefits to avoid obesity or MetS. Since these interaction effects have been scarcely analyzed in European youth, the aim was to describe the gene-MD interplay, analyzing the impact of the genetic factors to reduce the obesity and MetS risk through MD adherence, and the MD impact in the obesity and MetS genetic profile. From the limited evidence on gene-MD interaction studies in European youth, a study showed that the influence of high MD adherence on adiposity and MetS was only observed with a limited number of risk alleles; the gene-MD interplay showed sex-specific differences, being higher in females. Most results analyzed in European adults elucidate that, the relationship between MD adherence and both obesity and MetS risk, could be modulated by obesity genetic variants and vice versa. Further research is needed, to better understand the inter-individual differences in the association between MD and body composition, and the integration of omics and personalized nutrition considering MD.

The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Social Inequalities of Health Care Use in Hungary: A Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: The social representation of restricted health care use during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been evaluated properly yet in Hungary. OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to quantify the effect of COVID-19 pandemic measures on general practitioner (GP) visits, specialist care, hospitalization, and cost-related prescription nonredemption (CRPNR) among adults, and to identify the social strata susceptible to the pandemic effect. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was based on nationally representative data of 6611 (Nprepandemic = 5603 and Npandemic = 1008) adults. Multivariable logistic regression models were applied to determine the sociodemographic and clinical factors influencing health care use by odds ratios (ORs) along with the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). To identify the social strata susceptible to the pandemic effect, the interaction of the time of data collection with the level of education, marital status, and Roma ethnicity, was tested and described by iORs. RESULTS: While the CRPNR did not change, the frequency of GP visits, specialist care, and hospitalization rates was remarkably reduced by 22.2%, 26.4%, and 6.7%, respectively, during the pandemic. Roma proved to be not specifically affected by the pandemic in any studied aspect, and the pandemic restructuring of health care impacted the social subgroups evenly with respect to hospital care. However, the pandemic effect was weaker among primary educated adults (iORGP visits, high-school vs. primary-education = 0.434; 95% CI 0.243-0.776, ORspecialist visit, high-school vs. primary-education = 0.598; 95% CI 0.364-0.985), and stronger among married adults (iORGP visit, widowed vs. married = 2.284; 95% CI 1.043-4.998, iORspecialist visit, widowed vs. married = 1.915; 95% CI 1.157-3.168), on the frequency of GP visits and specialist visits. The prepandemic CRPNR inequality by the level of education was increased (iORhigh-school vs. primary-education = 0.236; 95% CI 0.075-0.743). CONCLUSION: Primary educated and widowed adults did not follow the general trend, and their prepandemic health care use was not reduced during the pandemic. This shows that although the management of pandemic health care use restrictions was implemented by not increasing social inequity, the drug availability for primary educated individuals could require more support.

An Assessment of Poverty Alleviation Measures and Sustainable Livelihood Capability of Farm Households in Rural China: A Sustainable Livelihood Approach

This paper aims to identify effective mechanisms for government poverty alleviation measures based on the livelihood sustainability of farm households in Southern Shaanxi province, China. The paper utilizes data from 414 farm households, collected through field observations and in-depth interviews in 24 rural communes in Qinba Mountain Area of Shaanxi province, China. Using theoretical research methods and employing the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) framework, this paper analyzes poverty alleviation measures as well as the impact of varied capital availability on sustainable livelihood. The study shows that developing local industries and governmental financial support improve the sustainable livelihood of farmers and eradicate absolute poverty. The findings of this study further indicate that there is a positive correlation between poverty alleviation measures and natural and social capital for sustainable livelihood. The paper provides empirical and quantitative evidence on alleviation of poverty, and the findings will help improve the sustainability of livelihood capability of farming households. This study suggests impactful approaches to stabilizing mechanisms for poverty alleviation in rural areas over the longer term.