The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on social relationships of forensic psychiatric outpatients with preexisting social network-related problems: A mixed methods study

This study aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on social relationships of forensic psychiatric outpatients with preexisting social network-related problems. Data from 70 participants of an ongoing randomized controlled trial, investigating the effectiveness of a social network intervention among forensic psychiatric outpatients, were examined. Demographic characteristics, quality of social relationships, loneliness, and social support were assessed at baseline. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional questionnaire that contained quantitative and qualitative questions regarding the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on social relationships was administered. Participants showed high levels of loneliness and dissatisfaction with social relationships before COVID-19. The majority of forensic outpatients perceived no changes on social relationships due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Qualitative results revealed some participants already lived socially isolated. Negative changes on social relationships were related to deterioration of social contacts, interruption of daytime activities, changed mental health care, and well-being. Emotional loneliness predicted deteriorated general and romantic relationships. These findings suggest that social relationships of forensic patients with preexisting social network-related problems remain of concern throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Forensic Psychology Research & Practice 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.)

Effectiveness of digital technologies to engage and support the wellbeing of people with dementia and family carers at home and in care homes: A scoping review.

Use of digital technologies to support meaningful engagement of people with dementia and carers increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this scoping review was to determine the effectiveness of digital technologies in supporting the engagement and wellbeing of people with dementia and family carers at home and in care homes. Studies published in peer reviewed literature were identified across four databases (CINAHL, Medline, PUBMED, PsychINFO). Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings indicate that digital technologies can potentially support the wellbeing of people with dementia and family carers, although only a few studies had measured impact on wellbeing, as many were reporting on technology at proof-of-concept stage rather than commercially ready products. Moreover, current studies lacked meaningful involvement of people with dementia, family carers, and care professionals in the design of the technology. Future research should bring together people with dementia, family carers, care professionals and designers to coproduce digital technologies with researchers and evaluate them using robust methodologies. Codesign should start early in the intervention development phase and continue until implementation. There is a need for real world applications that nurture social relationships by focusing on how digital technologies can support more personalised, adaptive forms of care. Developing the evidence base to identify what makes digital technologies effective in supporting the wellbeing of people with dementia is crucial. Future interventions should therefore consider the needs and preferences of people with dementia, their families, and professional carers, as well as the suitability and sensitivity of wellbeing outcome measures.

Social network and mental health of Chinese immigrants in affordable senior housing during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study.

OBJECTIVE: Chinese immigrant older adults who live in affordable housing are at high risk of experiencing social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which can affect their mental health. Using a triangulation mixed-methods approach, this study describes Chinese immigrant older adults' social network, mental health status, and their associations during the pandemic. METHODS: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 Chinese immigrant older adults from June to August 2021. The structure and characteristics of participants' social networks were assessed with a name-generating approach. Mental health status was self-reported with Geriatric Depression Scale and UCLA loneliness scale. RESULTS: This sample (mean age = 78.12, 69.23% female), on average, had 5.08 social ties in their network, and 58% were family ties. Participants reported decreased social contact, family and friends interaction patterns specific to immigrants, and constantly being in a low mood and bored. Having closer relationships with others and maintaining the same or higher contact frequency after COVID-19 onset was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Resilience from religious beliefs, neighbors as role models, and wisdom learned from past experiences were reported. CONCLUSION: Knowledge built in this study can inform respondence to future crises like the COVID-19 pandemic in affordable housing settings serving older immigrant populations.

Niet-cognitieve vaardigheden tijdens COVID-19: Een onderzoek onder leerlingen in het voortgezet onderwijs

In deze studie onderzoeken we of er tijdens de COVID-19-pandemie, en de hieruit voort-komende schoolsluitingen en onderwijs op afstand, een verandering heeft plaatsgevon-den in de niet-cognitieve vaardigheden van leerlingen in het voortgezet onderwijs en of dit verschilt tussen de aangeboden onderwijsty-pen in Nederland. Hiervoor maken we gebruik van data van de OnderwijsMonitor Limburg, en vergelijken we metingen in 2018 en maart 2020 (beide pre-COVID) met metingen direct na de eerste schoolsluiting (juni/juli 2020) en aan de start van het nieuwe schooljaar (sep-tember 2020). Met deze studie leveren we een bijdrage aan de schaarse literatuur over de relatie tussen de COVID-19-pandemie en niet-cognitieve vaardigheden van leerlingen. In de regressieanalyses met fixed-effects op schoolniveau, zien we voor vmbo-leerlingen (N=3025) weinig verschillen. De enige ver-schillen zijn een lagere gerapporteerde pres-tatiegerichtheid en vindingrijkheid en hoger doorzettingsvermogen tijdens de pandemie. Voor havo/vwo-leerlingen (N=4027) zien we di-rect na de eerste schoolsluiting, waarin men dacht dat het ergste achter de rug was, een opleving in de meeste niet-cognitieve vaardig-heden. Enkele maanden later, toen duidelijker werd dat het nog wel even zou duren, bleek het beeld beduidend negatiever. Havo/vwo-leerlingen rapporteren dan lager op school-motivatie, schoolhouding, schoolvertrouwen en sociale relaties met klasgenoten en leraren.

Relative Immunity: COVID-19 Pandemic Effects on the Emotional State, Economy, Leisure, and Socialization of Young People in Spain

This study aims to analyze the habits and attitudes of young people in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically regarding leisure and free time, framed within a context of the objective structural indicators of the economy, employment, and health. To this end, we reviewed official data banks and surveys conducted in Spain on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the general population. We performed a descriptive and longitudinal analysis with the aim of amalgamating the data on the general behavior of Spanish youth in terms of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental health and their positioning on the issues most important to them, especially in regard to their social relationships and leisure activities. Based on the results, we found evidence that young people were negatively affected by the impact of the pandemic, and, similarly to other age groups, reported high levels of concern about the demise of many of the aspects of their prepandemic lifestyles. Although their concerns mainly focused on leisure activities and social relationships, young people are the population group that suffered the highest anxiety levels during the pandemic. In relation to this, we highlight how the emergency measures adopted by society to fight against the spread of the virus were precisely aimed at restricting social relationships and leisure activities.

Covid-19's effects on strong and weak ties in middle-class families Insights from intergenerational qualitative longitudinal data

The contact restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic influence social relationships in families and at work. Drawing on Granovetter's network theory, the changes of strong and weak ties in different life spheres of middle-class families and their importance for coping with the crisis are analyzed. The article builds on intergenerational qualitative longitudinal data that was collected in a project on status maintenance of middle-class families that conducted narrative family interviews with three generations between August 2018 and August 2021. In general, strong ties to close family members and friends continued during the pandemic through modified interaction practices and even intensified. They provided reciprocal and emotional social support, which was needed to cope with changing social conditions and uncertainties. Restrictions were experienced by the oldest generation or when intrafamilial dependencies were reactivated. Regarding weak ties, distinctions must be made between different spheres and ties. Ties to more distant relatives and friends became looser or were cut, while neighborhoods gained significance. Central work and business ties to colleagues and customers were transformed and thus maintained, while more casual work relationships like professional networks were reduced or cut. Inequality effects can be observed to the detriment of women and the youngest generation. © 2023 Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH und Co. All rights reserved.

Ageing and Loneliness in Times of Pandemic: A Scoping Review.

Society is immersed in a process of demographic transformation of great relevance: the ageing of the population. During the ageing stage, relevant changes occur, such as age-related losses, lack of formal and informal support or changes in social roles, which can cause situations of isolation or loneliness in older people. After the Spanish government decreed a state of alarm throughout the national territory in response to the arrival of SARS-CoV2, the confinement of the entire population was established, and only essential services and authorized persons could continue to carry out their daily activities and professional tasks. In addition, since the beginning of the pandemic, older people were considered high-risk people, a circumstance that increased their isolation situation. OBJECTIVE: Understand, organize and systematically analyse the scientific evidence generated in relation to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the processes and feelings of isolation and loneliness of the elderly population, from the beginning of the health crisis until the date of search. MATERIALS AND METHODS: a scoping review was conducted using the methodology of Arksey and O'Malley, which included a review of the studies available in the online databases Proquest, Scopus and WOS. From the search, information related to the isolation and collective of elderly people during the pandemic was extracted. RESULTS: a total of 32 articles were included, from which three fundamental areas of analysis emerged and three issues emerged: older people and institutionalisation during the pandemic, ageism and hospitalisation of the elderly during the pandemic, and loneliness and isolation of older people throughout the pandemic. DISCUSSION: the lack of material resources and infrastructures to be able to face the problem of isolation in institutions was evident. The importance of acquiring, on the part of the elderly, competences, knowledge and skills in new technologies in order to continue with contact with their peer group and family was also observed. CONCLUSIONS: this study identifies areas already understood, as well as knowledge gaps, that allow for determining opportunities for future research and thus the ability to improve in situations similar to the one that occurred.

Mental health profiles of Finnish adolescents before and after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had implications for adolescents' interpersonal relationships, communication patterns, education, recreational activities and well-being. An understanding of the impact of the pandemic on their mental health is crucial in measures to promote the post-pandemic recovery. Using a person-centered approach, the current study aimed to identify mental health profiles in two cross-sectional samples of Finnish adolescents before and after the peak of the pandemic, and to examine how socio-demographic and psychosocial factors, academic expectations, health literacy, and self-rated health are associated with the emerging profiles. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Survey data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in Finland in 2018 (N = 3498, age M = 13.44) and 2022 (N = 3838, age M = 13.21) were analyzed. A four-profile model using cluster analysis was selected for both samples. In Sample 1, the identified profiles were (1) "Good mental health", (2) "Mixed psychosocial health", (3) "Somatically challenged", and (4) "Poor mental health". In Sample 2, the identified profiles were (1) "Good mental health", (2) "Mixed psychosomatic health", (3) "Poor mental health and low loneliness", and (4) "Poor mental health and high loneliness". The results of the mixed effect multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that in both samples, being a girl and reporting lower maternal monitoring; lower family, peer, and teacher support; higher intensity of online communication; a less positive home atmosphere and school climate; and poor self-rated health were most strongly linked to belonging to a poorer mental health profile. In addition, in Sample 2, low subjective health literacy was a key factor associated with poorer mental health profiles, and teacher support was more important than before COVID. CONCLUSIONS: The current study stresses the importance of identifying those vulnerable to developing poor mental health. To maximize post-pandemic recovery, the role of schools, especially teacher support and health literacy, along with the factors that remained important over time should be taken into account in public health and health promotion interventions.

Connecting and reconnecting: a phenomenological study of the meanings extra care tenants attribute to using the internet for social contact

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of a group of extra care tenants, who, as novice internet users, began to maintain their social relationships online. Housing transitions in later life may jeopardise existing social relationships, leading to loneliness and social isolation. More recently, Covid-19 restrictions have limited familial face-to-face contact and wider social interactions. Thus, extra care tenants, who are not already online, may benefit from acquiring internet skills. This paper aims to enhance understanding of the participants' transition from novices to experienced internet users and the impact on their social relationships and sense of self. Design/methodology/approach: A longitudinal, hermeneutic phenomenological study was conducted over eight months in two extra care housing schemes in north east England. Ten participants (56–98 years) with age-related physical, sensory and cognitive losses were recruited to the study. A series of semi-structured interviews and participant diaries captured the participants' experience as they developed internet skills and communicated online. Findings: All participants, including a blind individual, learnt to communicate online. Personalised adaptive strategies, peer support, training and management involvement facilitated internet uptake. Participants felt their social relationships were supported, and they regained biographical continuity, through being and feeling they belonged in the modern digital world. Originality/value: The online experiences of extra care tenants are rarely voiced. Their perceptions may assist others to engage online, maintaining social connections, which could otherwise be lost. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Ethics and Marketing of Social Integration in Cultural, Heritage and Educational Contexts

In the current situation, Covid-19 has highlighted inequalities in all parts of the planet, demarcating a gap between the pandemic framework and social relationships, which require ethics and care in the distance scenario. In this sense, there is an urgent need to proceed with the ethics of care, both in terms of knowledge and action, and it is opportune to reflect on the link between health and education, in a systematic way. Therefore, in this article, the objective is to analyze the systems of acquisition of peace, education and health, aiming to highlight a culture based on the stimulation of conscience, in favour of integration and peaceful transposition of life in society. It is believed that the ethics of care is an element of social integration, based on moral feelings and the human ability to responsibly care for others. From this perspective, it appears that adequate support guarantees the continuity of learning and helps to reduce socio-educational gaps. In this way, it is necessary to defend a social experience in which differences can be recognized, valued and used, in line with the fulfillment of human rights, and the equality of conditions for all, especially those that allude to the containment of the recent pandemic. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Neural underpinnings of social difficulties of lonely people

Loneliness is subjective experience of perceived social isolation that occurs when a person feels their network of social relationships is deficient either quantitatively or qualitatively. Loneliness is a prevalent condition with harmful effects on physical and mental health. Evolutionary theory suggests that loneliness had evolved as an internal signal to drive people to reconnect, much like hunger drives people to seek food. However, chronic loneliness may result in a negative bias, leading individuals to believe their social environment would not provide them with protection and help, which results in an activation of neural, neuroendocrine, and behavioral responses geared towards self-preservation and survival. Those reactions paradoxically end up driving lonely individuals away from social interactions. Loneliness was associated with altered structure and function of several brain areas, comprising neural networks related to visual attention, empathy, self-efficacy, pain processing, reward, craving, self-other representation, and social cognition. In this dissertation I focused on one network that was repeatedly found to be involved in social interactions and is relevant for loneliness, which is the Mirror Neuron System (MNS). The MNS was proposed to enable the understanding and interpretation of the meaning of actions performed by others, and it includes the action observation (AO) network, and specifically two main areas that are the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL). The AO network was suggested to be involved in various psychiatric conditions;however little was known with regards to its involvement in loneliness.This dissertation focused on three basic components, all of which are critical to achieving positive social interactions. The 1st component was approaching or allowing another person to get physically close, which is crucial for the initiation of contact. The 2nd component was engaging in a joint activity that becomes increasingly synchronize, which is critical for the creation of feelings of connectedness and satisfaction from the interaction. The 3rd component was perceiving positive social touch, which is critical for the creation of closer relationships and social connectedness. Each of these behaviors naturally involves various neural networks. However, there is evidence that all three involve common areas central to the AO system, further justifying our focus on this network in the dissertation. The goal of the studies reported in this dissertation was to investigate the social behavior of lonely individuals on a behavioral and a neural level, using neuroimaging and neuro-stimulation methods.In the first study, 479 participants completed an online task that experimentally assessed interpersonal distance preferences in four conditions-passively being approached by a friend or a stranger, and actively approaching a friend or a stranger. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore it presented an opportunity to examine another type of loneliness, which was more situational in nature. This was due to social distancing, and, at times, complete isolation demands during the pandemic. Therefore, a secondary aim of the study was to explore whether perceived situational loneliness that is related to COVID-19 impacts interpersonal distance preferences differently than chronic, trait loneliness. Results showed that high chronic loneliness was related to a greater preferred distance across conditions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Workplace infection control measures and romantic activities of workers during COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective cohort study in Japan.

Objective: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, non-married people are at high risk of loneliness. With social interactions restricted, it is important for non-married people to acquire a new romantic partner for their mental health and quality of life. We hypothesized that infection control efforts in the workplace influence people's social interactions, including romantic activities. Methods: We conducted an internet-based prospective cohort study from December 2020 (baseline) to December 2021, using self-administered questionnaires. Briefly, 27,036 workers completed the questionnaires at baseline, and when followed up after 1 year, 18,560 (68.7%) participated. A total of 6,486 non-married individuals with no romantic relationship at baseline were included in the analysis. At baseline they were asked about the implementation of infection control measures in the workplace, and at follow-up they were asked about activities they performed with a view to romantic relationships during the period from baseline to follow-up. Results: Compared to workers in workplaces with no infection control measures, the odds ratio (OR) associated with romance-related activities for those in workplaces with seven or more infection control measures was 1.90 (95% CI: 1.45-2.48, p < 0.001), and the OR associated with having a new romantic partner was 1.79 (95% CI: 1.20-2.66, p = 0.004). Discussion: Under the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of infection control measures in the workplace and the expressed satisfaction with those measures promoted romantic relationships among non-married, single individuals.

Assessing the health, social, educational and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents in low- and middle-income countries: a rapid review of the literature.

COVID-19 has caused profound health, social, educational and economic devastation around the world, especially among the lives of adolescents in low- and middle-income countries. This paper looks at a wide array of outcomes impacting adolescents' daily lives including health (mental, physical, sexual and reproductive health, vaccine perceptions and overlap between these topics), social relationships (family and peer), education and socio-economic disparities. Both scientific and grey literature between December 2019 and February 2022 were sought from PubMed, Google Scholar and organisations conducting research among adolescents, and coded. A total of 89 articles were included, 73% of which were peer-reviewed; 37% of the articles were from WHO's Western Pacific region; 62% of the articles were cross-sectional; 75% were quantitative. Three major topics emerged in more than half the articles: mental health (72%), education (61%) and socio-economic ramifications (55%). However, there were regional differences in topics and many of them overlapped. The results indicate that, where there has been research, almost all findings have been linked to worse mental health during the pandemic. Overall, remote education was seen as a negative experience. The ramification of school closures on future aspirations, in particular early school leaving, highlights the importance of prioritising education during future pandemics based on the situation within the country. Gender and other disparities have made marginalised adolescents vulnerable to the economic ramifications of containment measures. Given the risks identified, there is a pressing need to put adolescents at the centre of establishing priorities for their health agenda for post-pandemic recovery.

Public Health Approach to Outdoor Urban Health

Recent years of the Covid-19 pandemic have seen a proportional increase in the amount of time we spend in our homes each day. In spite of this, urban dwellers continue to spend-although varying from area to area of the world-many hours outside their homes for work, daily needs, recreation, and social relationships. This implies that the urban environment, both tangible and intangible, has several factors that can be both protective and risky for health. As highlighted in the 2016 Quito Conference, health can be the pulse of the new urban agenda for sustainable urban development [1]. It is not easy to take stock of where we are. On a global scale, there still seems to be a limited ethical-cultural awareness, a lack of political attention and thus of resource allocation, an insufficient capacity to use innovative choices and technologies and to actively involve local communities in decision-making processes and in the implementation of possible interventions. On the other hand, there are numerous positive experiences of urban realities that have produced convincing efforts in recent decades to make our cities more livable and healthy. Let us hope that the 2030 agenda proposed by the United Nations on the Sustainable Development Goals can really exert a driving role in this direction. A real willingness to set in motion virtuous processes to guarantee us a better quality of urban life, including by agreeing to revise our development and consumption patterns, will make all the difference. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Social Relations of Urban Children in the Liminal Time of the Pandemic Period

This paper analysed the social relations of Polish children during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The period of isolation and remote learning was approached as a transitional time using Victor Turner's concept of liminality. The concept offered a new perspective on children's experiences during the regime of health protection constraints and the resulting limitations. The research material was collected using focus group interviews with 41 urban children aged 7 and 9 to describe liminal features of their everyday life and characterise their social interactions. The findings reveal the risks and the potential of the pandemic period with respect to the social world and its construction by children. The most important observation concern is that educators and caregivers exploit children's aversion to mediated interaction and assistance in reconstructing the world of actual interaction of children using creative rituals within the family and at school. © 2022, Adam Marszalek Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Social Connection when Physically Isolated: Family Experiences in Using Video Calls

Digital (video) calls have become a significant tool during the challenging times marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The article focuses on the perceived functionality of video calls for maintaining social contacts and overcoming loneliness in celebrating family festivities limited by physical distance policies. The qualitative study conducted at the end of 2021 in Latvia and Spain examines families' cultural socialisation via digital tools and, based on data obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews, assesses the users' digital experiences in celebrating Christmas and the New Year from retrospective and prospective standpoints. The obtained data revealed that although digital interactions were acknowledged as an alternative means for ensuring togetherness, preserving and facilitating emotional connection, and experiencing a feeling of belonging and shared identity, they were perceived as the context of exception. The findings complement existing studies that the pandemic contributed to bridging the digital gap among generations with coordinated and negotiated conceptions of the functionality of digital tools. Video calls ensured a sense of social and emotional connectedness and inspired the appearance of virtual celebration ideas. © 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter.

Societal Participation of People With Traumatic Brain Injury Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A NIDILRR Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on societal participation in people with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Cross-sectional retrospective cohort. SETTING: National TBI Model Systems centers, United States. PARTICIPANTS: TBI Model Systems enrollees (N=7003), ages 16 and older and 1-30 years postinjury, interviewed either prepandemic (PP) or during the pandemic (DP). The sample was primarily male (72.4%) and White (69.5%), with motor vehicle collisions as the most common cause of injury (55.1%). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The 3 subscales of the Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective: Out and About (community involvement), Productivity, and Social Relations. RESULTS: Out and About, but not Productivity or Social Relations, scores were appreciably lower among DP participants compared to PP participants (medium effect). Demographic and clinical characteristics showed similar patterns of association with participation domains across PP and DP. When their unique contributions were examined in regression models, age, self-identified race, education level, employment status, marital status, income level, disability severity, and life satisfaction were variably predictive of participation domains, though most effects were small or medium in size. Depression and anxiety symptom severities each showed small zero-order correlations with participation domains across PP and DP but had negligible effects in regression analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the effect of COVID-19 on participation levels in the general population, people with TBI reported less community involvement during the pandemic, potentially compounding existing postinjury challenges to societal integration. The pandemic does not appear to have altered patterns of association between demographic/clinical characteristics and participation. Assessing and addressing barriers to community involvement should be a priority for TBI treatment providers. Longitudinal studies of TBI that consider pandemic-related effects on participation and other societally linked outcomes will help to elucidate the potential longer-term effect the pandemic has on behavioral health in this population.

The reorganizations of the educational bonds and the pedagogical practice in physical education in the return to presentiality at school / A reorganização dos laços educativos e a prática pedagógica em educação física no retorno à presencialidade na escola / La reorganización de los vínculos educativos y la práctica pedagógica en educación física en la vuelta a la actividad escolar presencial

Resumo Os movimentos de reassociação e de reagregação no retorno à presencialidade na escola, após um período de fechamento durante a pandemia de covid-19, são o foco deste estudo. Discutimos os achados de uma etnografia em uma escola pública de Porto Alegre, que teve como objetivo descrever e analisar os atores em ação na reorganização dos laços educativos nas aulas de Educação Física no retorno à presencialidade. O trabalho empírico permitiu organizar as descrições e análises em três trajetórias: 1) A busca por laços firmes; 2) Intencionalidades e estratégias sobre a 'prática'; e 3) Laços de confiança como estratégia e compromisso docente. Enquanto alguns laços visavam compensar possíveis déficits educativos apostando em dispositivos autoritários e punitivos em vista da compulsoriedade da dimensão "prática" e possibilitando pouco espaço para as emoções e a saúde mental, outros incidiram na construção de laços de confiança como estratégia educativa e como ação política necessária.

Abstract The reassociation and reaggregation movements in the return to school, after a period of closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, are the focus of this study. We discuss the findings of an ethnography in a public school in Porto Alegre, which aimed to describe and analyze the actors in action in the reorganization of educational bonds in Physical Education classes in the return to presence. We organized the descriptions and analyses in three trajectories: 1) The search for firm bonds; 2) Intentions and strategies about "practice"; and 3) Bonds of trust as a teaching strategy and commitment. While some bonds aimed to compensate for possible educational deficits by betting on authoritarian and punitive devices in view of the compulsory nature of the "practical" dimension and allowing little space for emotions and mental health, others focused on building bonds of trust as an educational strategy and as a necessary policy.

Resumen Los movimientos de reasociación y reagrupación en la vuelta a la actividad presencial en la escuela, tras el cierre durante la pandemia de Covid-19, son el foco de este estudio. Discutimos los hallazgos de una etnografía en una escuela pública de Porto Alegre, que tuvo como objetivo describir y analizar los actores en la reorganización de los vínculos educativos en las clases de Educación Física en la vuelta a la actividad presencial. El trabajo empírico permitió organizar las descripciones y análisis en tres trayectorias: 1) La búsqueda de vínculos firmes; 2) Intencionalidad y estrategias sobre la 'práctica'; y 3) Lazos de confianza como estrategia y compromiso docente. Mientras algunos vínculos buscaban compensar posibles déficits educativos apostando por dispositivos autoritarios y punitivos ante la obligatoriedad de la dimensión 'práctica' y dejando poco espacio para las emociones y la salud mental, otros se centraron en la construcción de lazos de confianza como estrategia educativa y como acción política necesaria.

The impact of social-relationship patterns on worsening mental health among the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Hungary.

Evidence indicates the coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the oldest age group: in Hungary 92.7 per cent of those who died due to COVID-19 infection were 60 years of age or older. The age structure of the deceased was very similar in other countries. As, due to their underlying health status, elderly people are more vulnerable to the serious diseases caused by the coronavirus, strict government restrictions were introduced worldwide to protect them when the epidemic broke out. However, this social isolation can cause severe psychological and emotional strain. The study aim was to examine how patterns of social relationships were related to changes in mental health of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary. We used the database of SHARE COVID-19 for our analysis. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted. Findings of this study suggest that the network lacking contacts increases the severity of depression, anxiety, sleeping disorders, and loneliness the most among the elderly. Interestingly, the group with an intense close-knit network had a higher risk of worsening mental symptoms compared to multiple contact actives. Moreover, electronic communication - telephone, Skype - did not help either: there was a particularly high probability of worsening depression in this group. Another interesting result is that both in the group dominated by family contacts and among those with multiple relationships, the chances of worsening mental symptoms were lower, thus, personal contact - whether they include family members or other acquaintances - is truly protective. Results demonstrate that both the network characterised by lack of contact network and electronic contact activity contribute to greater risk of worsening mental health within elderly. A network pattern characterised by various types and forms of contacts is the most beneficial to mental health, and intensive contacts of limited scope alone are not sufficient to protect mental health.

Public Health Approach to Outdoor Urban Health

Recent years of the Covid-19 pandemic have seen a proportional increase in the amount of time we spend in our homes each day. In spite of this, urban dwellers continue to spend-although varying from area to area of the world-many hours outside their homes for work, daily needs, recreation, and social relationships. This implies that the urban environment, both tangible and intangible, has several factors that can be both protective and risky for health. As highlighted in the 2016 Quito Conference, health can be the pulse of the new urban agenda for sustainable urban development [1]. It is not easy to take stock of where we are. On a global scale, there still seems to be a limited ethical-cultural awareness, a lack of political attention and thus of resource allocation, an insufficient capacity to use innovative choices and technologies and to actively involve local communities in decision-making processes and in the implementation of possible interventions. On the other hand, there are numerous positive experiences of urban realities that have produced convincing efforts in recent decades to make our cities more livable and healthy. Let us hope that the 2030 agenda proposed by the United Nations on the Sustainable Development Goals can really exert a driving role in this direction. A real willingness to set in motion virtuous processes to guarantee us a better quality of urban life, including by agreeing to revise our development and consumption patterns, will make all the difference. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.