The effect of masks on cognitive performance.

The use of face masks has been a key response to the COVID-19 pandemic in almost every country. However, despite widespread use of masks in classrooms and offices around the world, almost nothing is known about their effects on cognitive performance. Using a natural experiment, I show that mandatory mask wearing has a negative causal effect on the cognitive performance of competitive chess players. I analyzed the quality of almost 3 million chess moves played by 8,531 individuals (ages 5-98 y) in 18 countries before and during the pandemic. Wearing a mask decreased the quality of players' decisions-a measure of their cognitive performance-by approximately one-third of an SD. However, the disruptive effect of masks is relatively short-lived, gradually weakening such that there is no measurable disadvantage from wearing a mask after roughly 4 h of play. The mask effect is driven by a large, negative effect for experts, with minimal change in performance at lower levels, and is stronger in high-incentive competitions. I provide support for a distraction mechanism whereby masks interfere with performance when working memory load is high.

Environmental and Mobility Strategies During Early COVID-19: Insights From an Empirical Study Focusing on Park Visitations in El Paso, TX.

OBJECTIVES: We explored the importance of environmental and mobility strategies during early COVID-19 by age and ethnicity and investigated predictors of park visitations considering the COVID-19 impacts. BACKGROUND: Parks are safe and accessible venues to stay active and reduce social isolation, which is especially important considering COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns. METHODS: We analyzed online survey data from 683 residents (collected July 2020) of El Paso, TX, and objective measures of neighborhood park characteristics. Chi-square tests and mixed-effects logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the environmental/mobility strategies, personal and environmental factors, and park visitations, considering the COVID-19 impacts. RESULTS: The percentage of those who visited (1+ times/week) parks or trails/paths in the neighborhood dropped from 41.7% to 19.5% since the start of COVID-19 (OR = 0.015, p < .001). Before COVID-19, middle-aged and older adults were less likely to visit parks than younger adults, while this difference became insignificant during early COVID-19. Hispanic adults were more likely to visit parks than non-Hispanics both before and during early COVID-19. Positive environmental predictors of park visitations included park availability in the neighborhood, proximity to the closest park, seeing people being physically active in the neighborhood, and neighborhood aesthetics. CONCLUSIONS: Proximately located parks, trails, and paths well integrated into residential communities, and high aesthetic quality of the neighborhood are the potential features of pandemic-resilient communities and should be considered an important national priority to maintain and promote the health and well-being of the population, especially during pandemics like COVID-19.

Demand for outdoor recreation in a time of a pandemic / La demande pour des espaces de nature en situation de pandémie

INTRODUCTION: The extent of the health benefits of contact with nature came to the fore during the health crisis. However, studies do not fully appreciate the effect of the type of natural environment to which individuals are exposed. The studies often use a very vague category of "green space" for the purpose. PURPOSE OF RESEARCH: We apply social sciences analytical concepts to analyze demands for recreational uses of both forests and ocean beaches in a time of sanitary crisis. Our studies use data from two regional surveys applied to a representative sample of the Aquitaine population. RESULTS: We underline the social inequalities with regard to access to forest and ocean beaches, even though outdoor recreation is free of charge most of the time. We also identify salient differences between uses, motivations, and risk perceptions in both of the natural settings. We discuss how such discrepancies are inherited from previously constructed social representations. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that public health studies could benefit greatly from the achievements of several decades of research in the field of outdoor studies.

Introduction: La crise sanitaire que nous traversons est une occasion de mettre en lumière l'étendue des bienfaits sur la santé que procure le contact avec la nature. Dans ce contexte, néanmoins, les études négligent encore très souvent l'impact du type de milieu naturel que les individus fréquentent, retenant pour l'occasion une catégorie très générale d'« espaces verts ¼. But de l'étude: À travers deux enquêtes quantitatives portant sur la fréquentation des forêts et des plages océanes en Aquitaine, nous analysons, à l'aide d'outils empruntés aux sciences sociales, la façon dont chacun des deux espaces a répondu à des demandes spécifiques durant la première année de l'épidémie de COVID-19. Résultats: Nous montrons que les espaces se distinguent du point de vue des publics qui les fréquentent, des usages qu'ils permettent, mais aussi des attentes et des perceptions dont ils sont l'objet en matière de risques de contamination. Plus accessibles que d'autres formes de loisirs, les activités de plein air n'en demeurent pas moins un cas d'inégalité environnementale. Chez nos enquêtés, la forêt bénéficie d'une image plus positive que le littoral en termes de bien-être et de bénéfices pour la santé, y compris au niveau des risques de contamination par le SARS-CoV-2. Ces résultats renforcent l'idée qu'il existe effectivement des spécificités à la « santé verte ¼ (Green Health), d'un côté, et à la « santé bleue ¼ (Blue Health), de l'autre. Savoir d'où proviennent ces différences de représentations demeure une question ouverte, en émettant toutefois l'hypothèse que les croyances sont, au moins en partie, héritées de références constituées antérieurement à la pandémie, notamment sur la nature et le poids des fonctions environnementales. Conclusions: Les rapports que les individus entretiennent avec la nature résultent d'entrelacs complexes de facteurs environnementaux et sociaux. Ces relations influent sur les bénéfices qu'ils retirent de la fréquentation des espaces naturels. Dans ces conditions, les travaux de santé publique pourraient tirer profit des acquis obtenus depuis maintenant plusieurs décennies par les recherches en sciences sociales sur les activités de plein air.

Country Parks as Sites of Emergency Medical Facility: A Case of COVID-19 in Hangzhou, China.

City parks are suitable sites for the construction of emergency medical facilities. A comparison of various types of city parks revealed that country parks fit closely with site selection conditions for emergency medical facilities. Based on the latter site selection requirements, eight impact factors such as park type, effective avoidance area, spatial fragmentation degree, water source protection area, wind direction, distance from city center, impermeability, and transport duration were quantified, and then 29 country parks in the Hangzhou Urban Area were compared using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The calculation results showed that Linglong Country Park has the highest score, taking into account the characteristics of safety, scalability, rehabilitation, convenience, pollution prevention, and isolation. Linglong can be given priority selection as a target location for emergency medical facilities. In addition, Silver Lake Country Park, Dongqiao Country Park, Taihuyuan Country Park, and Tuankou Country Park have higher scores and can be used as alternative targets for emergency plans. The scoring results prove that the evaluation method has a high degree of rigor, a significant degree of discrimination, and a high degree of consistency between the validity and weight assignment of each impact factor. In view of the different geographical conditions in each region, the weight assignment of each impact factor can be adjusted according to local conditions and can help make effective use of existing conditions and avoid disadvantages.

The Perceptions and Use of Urban Neighborhood Parks Since the Outbreak of COVID-19: A Case Study in South Korea.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the stress of city dwellers is increasing, and some adapt to the pandemic by pursuing physical and psychological well-being in neighborhood parks. To improve the resilience of the social-ecological system against COVID-19, it is important to understand the mechanism of adaptation by examining the perception and use of neighborhood parks. The purpose of this study is to investigate users' perceptions and use of urban neighborhood parks since the outbreak of COVID-19 in South Korea using systems thinking. To verify the hypotheses about the relationship between variables involved in COVID-19 adaptive feedback, two research objectives were set. First, this study determined the causal structure leading to park visits using systems thinking. Second, the relationship between stress, motivation, and the frequency of visits to neighborhood parks was empirically verified. To conduct the research, the system of use and perceptions of parks were analyzed through a causal loop diagram to determine the feedback between psychological variables. Then, a survey was conducted to verify the relationship between stress, motivation for visits, and visit frequency, which are the major variables derived from the causal structure. A total of three feedback loops were derived in the first step, including a loop in which COVID-19 stress was relieved by visits to parks and a loop in which COVID-19 stress worsened due to crowding in parks. Finally, the relationship of stress leading to park visits was confirmed, and the empirical analysis showed that anger about contagion and social disconnection were linked as motives for park visits, and that park visits were mainly motivated by the desire to go out. The neighborhood park functions as an adaptive space for the stress of COVID-19 and will maintain its role as social distancing becomes more important to various socio-ecological changes. The strategies driven by the pandemic can be adapted in park planning to recover from stress and improve resilience.

Creative leisure activities, mental health and well-being during 5 months of the COVID-19 pandemic: a fixed effects analysis of data from 3725 US adults.

INTRODUCTION: We investigated whether changes in engagement in home-based creative activities were associated with changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to replicate findings from the UK in a USA sample. METHODS: 3725 adults were included from the COVID-19 Social Study in the USA, a panel study collecting data weekly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measured engagement in eight types of creative leisure activities on the previous weekday between April and September 2020. Data were analysed using fixed effects regression models. RESULTS: Increased time spent gardening was associated with reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms and enhanced life satisfaction. Spending more time doing woodwork/DIY and arts/crafts were also associated with enhanced life satisfaction. However, more time watching television, films or other similar media (not for information on COVID-19) was associated with increased depressive symptoms. Other creative activities were not associated with mental health or well-being. CONCLUSION: Some findings differ from evidence obtained in the UK, demonstrating the importance of replicating research across countries. Our findings should also be considered when formulating guidelines for future stay-at-home directives, enabling individuals to stay well despite the closure of public resources.

Partial COVID-19 closure of a national park reveals negative influence of low-impact recreation on wildlife spatiotemporal ecology.

Human presence exerts complex effects on the ecology of species, which has implications for biodiversity persistence in protected areas experiencing increasing human recreation levels. However, the difficulty of separating the effect on species of human presence from other environmental or disturbance gradients remains a challenge. The cessation of human activity that occurred with COVID-19 restrictions provides a 'natural experiment' to better understand the influence of human presence on wildlife. Here, we use a COVID-19 closure within a heavily visited and highly protected national park (Glacier National Park, MT, USA) to examine how 'low-impact' recreational hiking affects the spatiotemporal ecology of a diverse mammal community. Based on data collected from camera traps when the park was closed and then subsequently open to recreation, we found consistent negative responses to human recreation across most of our assemblage of 24 species, with fewer detections, reduced site use, and decreased daytime activity. Our results suggest that the dual mandates of national parks and protected areas to conserve biodiversity and promote recreation have potential to be in conflict, even for presumably innocuous recreational activities. There is an urgent need to understand the fitness consequences of these spatiotemporal changes to inform management decisions in protected areas.

Impact of Personal Experience of COVID-19 Disease on Recreational Anglers' Attitudes and Behaviors.

BACKGROUND: Anglers are a large social group with access to a "relatively safe" form of recreation, that allows the opportunity to relieve stress. An important question, however, is how they did so, and to what extent their perceived COVID-19 transition status influenced decisions both in life and at the fishing site. AIM: Our study aimed to determine the dynamics of anglers' attitudes and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the different statuses of their exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We assumed that the behavior of anglers who have not experienced the disease (were not ill and not sure if ill) will be similar and, on the other hand, different from the behavior of those who have experienced COVID-19. METHODS: The web-assisted interviews survey was used among 586 anglers with different COVID-19 disease experience statuses. Their pandemic behavior and activities by four age groups were studied using non-metric multidimensional scaling. Redundancy analysis has been used to identify the relationship between anglers' life attitudes and socioeconomic and demographic factors, taking into account their preferences and involvement in fishing. RESULTS: We have demonstrated that the behavior of anglers who have not experienced COVID-19 disease and do not present a reckless attitude toward pandemic threats, do not show significant differences from the life attitudes of the group experienced by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These two groups comprise more than 70% of anglers. However, the rest show a lack of interest in an aware diagnosis of their health and a low level of acceptance of self-restraint in the area of direct social contact. CONCLUSIONS: Unawareness, combined with ignorance, could be a potential factor in the transmission of the virus while fishing. The behaviors of almost 30% of anglers are particularly risky when combined with a strong need to fish in the company of friends and familiar people. Anglers' social identity should be tapped by fishery managers. Targeted educational campaigns should be aimed at groups around specific fishing spots. The need for self-limitation under the pandemic should be promoted for the benefit of the general public and to maintain the reputation of angling as a safe recreational activity.

Evaluating the potential of suburban and rural areas for tourism and recreation, including individual short-term tourism under pandemic conditions.

Limited mobility and restrictions in social life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic changed people's recreational behavior and made them seek more contact with nature. As a result, the provision of new recreational spaces in the vicinity of cities gained importance. In conditions of social distancing, rural and suburban areas can be an attractive alternative to individual short-term tourism, satisfying the need for recreation and mental and physical health restoration of urban residents. In the study a methodology for assessing the tourist and recreational potential of the area (METPRET) concerning the recreational behaviors identified in the pandemic was proposed. It includes the Recreational Potential Index (RPI), which comprises four criteria: landscape values and socio-economic conditions; environmental protection; air quality; transportation accessibility. The application of the methodology is exemplified in the Mazovia Voivodeship, Poland. The research allows the determination of characteristics that potential recreation areas should have under pandemic conditions. The RPI makes it possible to select new rural and suburban areas attractive for short-term tourism. Designating additional recreational areas may contribute to the dispersion of users in existing green areas in cities, which is particularly important during a pandemic.

Landscape Perception and the Importance of Recreation Areas for Students during the Pandemic Time.

The landscape and its perception influence the quality of life of a local community. Recreation areas bring a lot of benefits to society, also in terms of mental health. Open space and contact with nature, particularly during a crisis such as the pandemic, help alleviate the effects of the lockdown and social isolation. The study objective was to determine whether and to what extent the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the importance of recreation areas and the perception of landscape among students-a social group that experiences mood disorders increasingly often and has been severely affected by the lockdown. A survey was conducted in two stages, using a Google Forms online survey. A total of 381 students from universities in Lublin participated in the survey. The survey showed that the significance of recreation areas increased during the pandemic. The perception of landscape changed as well: the value of nature, scenic views, and the therapeutic effect of the landscape began to be appreciated to a greater extent. The survey results indicate the need to ensure the diversity of green areas and improve their accessibility. Designing these areas should also consider quiet areas as well as ensuring green mobility and places of recreation.

Effect of Forest Users' Stress on Perceived Restorativeness, Forest Recreation Motivation, and Mental Well-Being during COVID-19 Pandemic.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has discouraged travel and people's movements, the number of visitors to forests near cities which are easily accessible by private vehicle is increasing in Korea. This study aims to investigate the relationship between stress, perceived restorativeness, forest recreation motivation, and the mental well-being of forest users. A survey of forest users was conducted at three recreational forests near Seoul in the summer of 2020. A total of 1196 forest users (613 males and 583 females) participated in the study. As a result of the data analysis, it was found that stress had a negative correlation with perceived restorativeness, forest recreation motivation, and mental well-being; perceived restorativeness had a positive correlation with mental well-being, and forest recreation motivation had a positive correlation with mental well-being. For the relationship between stress and mental well-being, the fitness index that was mediated by the perceived restorativeness and the forest recreation motivation found that the model was statistically suitable. Through this study, a research model was derived that, if the stress of forest users is reduced, direct or indirect effects on perceived restorativeness, forest recreation motivation, and mental well-being are increased. Further, a multi-group analysis found that the effect of perceived restorativeness and forest recreation motivation on the mental well-being of the male group was higher than the effect on the female group. Using this research model to find ways to promote health in forests can be utilized for forest management or forest healing.

Are All Urban Parks Robust to the COVID-19 Pandemic? Focusing on Type, Functionality, and Accessibility.

Many people visited urban parks during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the negative effects of lack of physical activity, social isolation, anxiety, and depression. It is unclear whether all parks are robust against the pandemic, helping people sustain healthy daily living through the diverse activities within them. Nevertheless, few studies have identified the specific relationship between park visits and the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to demonstrate how physical features such as type, functionality, and access influenced daily visiting to parks during the pandemic, using mobile phone data at a micro level. This study first classified urban parks as point-type parks with an area of less than 1 ha, plane-type parks with 1 ha or more, and line-type parks with elongated shapes, while measuring accessibility to residential, employment, transportation, and auxiliary facilities within the park. The study employed the multi-level regression model with random intercept to investigate the effects of differing park visits, focusing on Goyang city, South Korea. Our analysis results identified that easy access from home was more important than the park size during the pandemic. If we look at the types of parks, the use of both plane- and point-type parks increased more than that of line-type parks. However, line-type parks near homes, along with shopping and sports facilities, were found to be more robust to the pandemic. These findings can be informative to provide specific guidelines to fulfill the enhanced role of parks in sustaining public health during an infectious disease pandemic that may strike again.

People living in disadvantaged areas faced greater challenges in staying active and using recreational facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aimed to understand the perceived effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity, recreation walking, and use of recreational facilities; and if the COVID-19 pandemic amplified disparities in physical activity, recreational walking, and use of recreational facilities related to the levels of neighborhood disadvantage. Recreational walking and the use of neighborhood streets and green spaces significantly decreased in high deprivation areas but not in low deprivation areas during the pandemic. While COVID-19 has negatively affected overall recreational activities, the inequitable impact on recreational walking and use of outdoor recreational facilities has been more evident in disadvantaged neighborhoods with greater deprivation.

The Significance of Angling in Stress Reduction during the COVID-19 Pandemic-Environmental and Socio-Economic Implications.

Recreational fishing and other outdoor recreational activities have been proven to have positive effects on mental health, including neutralizing pandemic stress. This study aims to identify the perceptions and behavior of recreational anglers during the COVID-19 pandemic along with identifying the factors that determine attitudes. This study is essential for understanding the complex economic, social, and environmental implications associated with a pandemic. Perceptions of pandemic stress reduction were confirmed by 63.8% of anglers, and nearly 98% felt there was no risk of infection from fishing. These feelings were most strongly positively associated and explained by a preference for fishing with friends and family and the frequency of fishing. Over 26% of respondents fished more frequently during the pandemic. Additional free time and the need to escape the pandemic media hype were the main factors for the increase in angler activity. The balance of benefits from changes in angler pandemic behavior was ambiguous. This was determined by considering the potential increase in pressure on the environmental resources that anglers use. Given the positive effects of angling on stress reduction, it is not advisable for policymakers to restrict recreational fishing access. Instead, best management practices should reduce sanitary bottlenecks to increase safety on fishing grounds.

Gauging the happiness benefit of US urban parks through Twitter.

The relationship between nature contact and mental well-being has received increasing attention in recent years. While a body of evidence has accumulated demonstrating a positive relationship between time in nature and mental well-being, there have been few studies comparing this relationship in different locations over long periods of time. In this study, we analyze over 1.5 million tweets to estimate a happiness benefit, the difference in expressed happiness between in- and out-of-park tweets, for the 25 largest cities in the US by population. People write happier words during park visits when compared with non-park user tweets collected around the same time. While the words people write are happier in parks on average and in most cities, we find considerable variation across cities. Tweets are happier in parks at all times of the day, week, and year, not just during the weekend or summer vacation. Across all cities, we find that the happiness benefit is highest in parks larger than 100 acres. Overall, our study suggests the happiness benefit associated with park visitation is on par with US holidays such as Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

Secondary traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression among emergency healthcare workers in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to determine the secondary traumatic stress (STS), anxiety, and depression levels of the emergency healthcare workers (HCWs) and to identify the factors associated with the mental health of the emergency HCWs. METHODS: This prospective cross-sectional study was performed between April 1 and May 1, 2021. Emergency nurses and auxiliary staff who gave informed consent were included in the study. Participants who answered the questions incompletely were excluded from the study. Demographic information, working and living conditions, STS, anxiety, depression scores, and coping strategies were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 363 HCWs were included in the study. STS was detected in 261 (71.9%) of the participants, anxiety in 148 (40.8%), and depression in 203 (55.9%) participants. Vaccination against COVID-19 was not associated with STS, anxiety, and depression among emergency HCWs (p > 0.05). Having financial difficulties was the most important factor in the development of anxiety, depression, and STS (OR: 3.68 (95% CI 1.96-6.90), p < 0.001; OR: 4.36 (95% CI 2.52-7.53), p < 0.001; OR: 5.35 (95% CI 3.06-9.37), p < 0.001, respectively). We found significantly reduced levels of STS, anxiety, and depression among participants reporting coping strategies that engaging in hobbies, healthy nutrition, and reading books. CONCLUSION: High levels of STS, anxiety, and depression were determined among emergency nurses and auxiliary staff during the pandemic. Poor job satisfaction and financial difficulties were associated with the mental health of emergency HCWs. The mental health of the emergency HCWs should be evaluated regularly. In addition to professional psychological support, social and financial support should be provided as well.

Physical activity and active recreation before and during COVID-19: The Our Life at Home study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effects of COVID-19 related 'lockdown restrictions' on Australian's (5-75 years) physical activity recommendation achievement and active recreation participation. DESIGN: Cross-sectional online survey with self and proxy-report items (where the participant was a parent). METHODS: Adults (n = 1360) and adolescents (n = 1292) reported the frequency they performed 30- or 60-min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), muscle-strengthening exercises, and participation in 11 active recreation behaviours in February 2020 (pre-COVID-19) and in April/May (during lockdown restrictions). Parents also proxy-reported activity for their child (n = 147, 5-12 years). Mixed effects logistic regressions or a logistic regression (with robust sandwich estimation for variance) assessed recall differences pre- and during lockdown, and interaction by sex. RESULTS: Compared to February, in April/May children were less likely to meet MVPA recommendations (OR = 0.27, 95%CI = 0.12-0.64); adolescents males, but not females, were less likely to meet MVPA (OR = 0.71, 95%CI 0.43, 1.17) and both recommendations (OR = 0.12, 95%CI = 0.02, 0.79); and adults were more likely to meet MVPA (OR = 1.26, 95%CI = 1.01, 1.57) but less likely to meet muscle-strengthening exercise recommendations (OR = 0.76, 9%CI = 0.65, 0.89). Across age groups more participants reported walking, muscle strengthening exercises at home, and yoga/Pilates/stretching at home, and fewer performed informal sport practice and play, and recreational activities. CONCLUSIONS: Lockdown restrictions had different effects on physical activity and active recreation among age groups and by sex. Physical activity promotion strategies that target children and adolescents, at home physical activity options, active neighbourhoods, and (re)engagement in informal sport and recreational activities post-COVID-19 are critical for (re)engaging Australians in health-enhancing behaviours.

Using Social Media Data to Evaluate Urban Parks Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In the context of increasing urbanization and associated economic, social and environmental challenges, cities have increasingly acknowledged the importance of urban parks in delivering social, economic and environmental benefits to the population. The importance has been demonstrated also during the COVID-19 pandemic that generated lockdowns and reduced the capacity of urban inhabitants in accessing such benefits. The present study aims to determine how the presence in urban parks was reflected on social media during the pandemic period of 2020. We examined Instagram posts associated with a sample of eight urban parks in Bucharest, Romania and also the entire history of Google reviews between January and August 2020. The selection of parks was made according to their size, location in Bucharest, previous reported number of visitors and profile of attractiveness. Results revealed that the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first initiation of the lockdowns strongly affected the recreation and leisure activities that people performed almost daily in the parks of Bucharest. Reviews and comments of the population were not that focused on the pandemic even after the restrictions were lifted, but they evidenced the positive and negative aspects of each park. Our results can represent a useful instrument for local administrations in determining both the flow of visitors but also their perceptions towards the endowments, landscape and most important management of urban parks.