Anxiety and Depression Among College Students During the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Jiangsu, China.

Background: This study aimed to explore the levels of anxiety and depression in a sample of home-quarantined college students to identify the risk factors for psychological distress during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: A total of 1156 college students studying in Jiangsu, China, participated from August 5 to August 14. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data anonymously, including demographic characteristics, the generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire, the patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a physical activity scale, and items related to COVID-19. The chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were employed to establish the differences in levels of anxiety and depression across sociodemographic characteristics. Binary logistic regression was applied to measure the predictors of levels of anxiety and depression, and associations were considered significant at p <0.05. Results: The estimates of anxiety and depression were 48.1% and 57.6%, respectively. The univariate analysis indicated a significant difference in anxiety levels across student grades, whether the student was an only child, the distance from the worst-hit areas, and physical activity/exercise intensity. Physical activity intensity and living in communities with infected people were statistically correlated with the level of depression. Binary logistic regression results indicated that the predictive factors for anxiety were living within a short distance from the worst-hit areas (10~20 km), engaging in higher education (graduate students), and low-intensity daily exercise. Factors statistically predicting depression symptoms were having siblings, a COVID-19 diagnosis in the community and low-intensity daily exercise. Conclusion: During outbreaks, students in an extremely stressful state are more likely to develop anxiety and depression, particularly postgraduates. Psychological interventions to reduce fears and encourage exercise should be available to home-quarantined college students. Students who live in the worst-hit areas and are not the only child in the family should be prioritized.

How the hotel industry attracts Generation Z employees: An application of social capital theory

Post pandemic, the hotel industry is facing a significant labor shortage. This study investigates how the hotel industry attracts the Gen Z workforce through CSR activities during COVID-19. The study develops a framework based on social capital theory. A total of 407 online surveys were collected, and PLS-SEM was performed to test the proposed model. Results indicate that the person-organization fit increases cognitive trust and affective trust, subsequently affecting hotels' organizational attractiveness. COVID-related knowledge only moderates the relationship between cognitive trust and organizational attractiveness. Moreover, affective trust is weighed heavier by Gen Zs who were currently unemployed, while cognitive trust exerts more influence on those who were currently employed. The study findings provide valuable insights and meaningful implications for hotel managers to attract and retain Gen Z talents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Seeing the big picture during the COVID-19 pandemic: the spillover effects of visionary leadership on employees' work-to-family conflict.

While an expanding body of research has revealed the beneficial impacts of visionary leadership on employees' work-related outcomes, little is known about its spillover effects on nonwork domains. Drawing upon work-home resources theory, we investigated the impacts of visionary leadership on employees' work-to-family conflict (WFC). Utilizing three-wave data from 268 employees, the results indicate that visionary leadership promotes follower relational energy, which in turn reduces WFC. Furthermore, perceived COVID-19 crisis disruption was found to strengthen the negative indirect link between visionary leadership and employees' WFC. Our research broadens our understanding of the potential positive spillover effects of visionary leadership in the nonwork domain through relational energy, and the accentuating effect of perceived crisis disruption on the work-family interface. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.

Seeing the big picture during the COVID-19 pandemic: the spillover effects of visionary leadership on employees’ work-to-family conflict

While an expanding body of research has revealed the beneficial impacts of visionary leadership on employees’ work-related outcomes, little is known about its spillover effects on nonwork domains. Drawing upon work–home resources theory, we investigated the impacts of visionary leadership on employees’ work-to-family conflict (WFC). Utilizing three-wave data from 268 employees, the results indicate that visionary leadership promotes follower relational energy, which in turn reduces WFC. Furthermore, perceived COVID-19 crisis disruption was found to strengthen the negative indirect link between visionary leadership and employees’ WFC. Our research broadens our understanding of the potential positive spillover effects of visionary leadership in the nonwork domain through relational energy, and the accentuating effect of perceived crisis disruption on the work–family interface. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.

Why do hotel frontline employees use service robots in the workplace? A technology affordance theory perspective

The rapid robotization of the hotel industry faces reluctance from frontline employees. This study aims to explore frontline employees’ intentions to use service robots in the hotel workplace. Combining technology affordance theory and socio-material perspective, the study conducted four experiments pre-pandemic, amid-pandemic, and post-pandemic to test the proposed framework. The results reveal that hotel employees, especially those with low collectivism (vs. high), prefer a room service robot with physical affordance to a concierge robot with cognitive affordance because the former offers more relative advantages and higher trust. This main effect remained the same both pre- and amid-pandemic. During the pandemic, the COVID-19 compliance of guests showed a significant interaction effect on the employees’ intentions to use service robots in the workplace. The study findings provide meaningful implications for hoteliers selecting the correct type of robot for adoption and encouraging employees to use service robots.

Mental health issues in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: A multi-time-point study related to COVID-19 pandemic.

Given the unpredictability and challenges brought about by the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this study aimed to investigate the impact trend of the prolonged pandemic on the mental health of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The 8112 participants included parents of children with ASD and parents of typically developing (TD) children at two sites (Heilongjiang and Fujian province, China). The parents completed a set of self-report questionnaires covering demographic characteristics, influences related to COVID-19, COVID-19 concerns and perceived behaviors, as well as the Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), and self-rating depression scale (SDS) by means of an online survey platform. Data were collected by three cross-sectional surveys carried out in April 2020 (Time 1), October 2020 (Time 2), and October 2021 (Time 3). The results of quantitative and qualitative comparisons showed that: (i) parents of children with ASD had lower levels of resilience, and more symptoms of anxiety and depression than parents of TD children at each time point (all P < 0.05); and (ii) there were significant time-cumulative changes in resilience, anxiety, and depression among all participants (all P < 0.05). The logistic regression analyzes after adjusting for demographic characteristics revealed that the following factors were significantly associated with poor resilience and a higher rate of anxiety and depression in parents of children with ASD: time-point, the effect of COVID-19 on children's emotions and parents' emotions, changes in relationships, changes in physical exercise, changes in daily diet during the COVID-19 pandemic, and COVID-19-related psychological distress. In conclusions, the parents did not report improvements in resilience, anxiety, or depression symptoms from Time 1 to Time 2 or 3, indicating that cumulative mental health issues increased when, surprisingly, the COVID-19 restrictions were eased. The psychological harm resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is far-reaching, especially among parents of children with ASD.

XAF1 Protects Host against Emerging RNA Viruses by Stabilizing IRF1-Dependent Antiviral Immunity.

XIAP-associated factor 1 (XAF1) is an interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene (ISG) that enhances IFN-induced apoptosis. However, it is unexplored whether XAF1 is essential for the host fighting against invaded viruses. Here, we find that XAF1 is significantly upregulated in the host cells infected with emerging RNA viruses, including influenza, Zika virus (ZIKV), and SARS-CoV-2. IFN regulatory factor 1 (IRF1), a key transcription factor in immune cells, determines the induction of XAF1 during antiviral immunity. Ectopic expression of XAF1 protects host cells against various RNA viruses independent of apoptosis. Knockout of XAF1 attenuates host antiviral innate immunity in vitro and in vivo, which leads to more severe lung injuries and higher mortality in the influenza infection mouse model. XAF1 stabilizes IRF1 protein by antagonizing the CHIP-mediated degradation of IRF1, thus inducing more antiviral IRF1 target genes, including DDX58, DDX60, MX1, and OAS2. Our study has described a protective role of XAF1 in the host antiviral innate immunity against RNA viruses. We have also elucidated the molecular mechanism that IRF1 and XAF1 form a positive feedback loop to induce rapid and robust antiviral immunity. IMPORTANCE Rapid and robust induction of antiviral genes is essential for the host to clear the invaded viruses. In addition to the IRF3/7-IFN-I-STAT1 signaling axis, the XAF1-IRF1 positive feedback loop synergistically or independently drives the transcription of antiviral genes. Moreover, XAF1 is a sensitive and reliable gene that positively correlates with the viral infection, suggesting that XAF1 is a potential diagnostic marker for viral infectious diseases. In addition to the antitumor role, our study has shown that XAF1 is essential for antiviral immunity. XAF1 is not only a proapoptotic ISG, but it also stabilizes the master transcription factor IRF1 to induce antiviral genes. IRF1 directly binds to the IRF-Es of its target gene promoters and drives their transcriptions, which suggests a unique role of the XAF1-IRF1 loop in antiviral innate immunity, particularly in the host defect of IFN-I signaling such as invertebrates.

When are the effects of economic policy uncertainty on oil–stock correlations larger? Evidence from a regime-switching analysis

Economic policy uncertainty (EPU) is an important driver of the correlation in the oil–stock nexus. However, whether the effect of EPU on oil–stock correlations across different market conditions is heterogeneous remains unclear. To fill this gap, we combine a dynamic conditional correlation with the mixed data sampling (DCC-MIDAS) model and the Markov regime-switching model to explore the market-state-dependent effects of EPU on oil–stock correlations under different regimes. Empirical results indicate that the impacts of EPU on oil–stock correlations are regime-dependent both at the aggregate and industry levels, with stronger effects in high-correlation regimes, and these effects are more significant in times of economic turmoil. Moreover, the impact of EPU on oil–stock correlations is larger during the COVID-19 pandemic than it was during the Global Financial Crisis. These findings highlight the need to consider the nonlinear impact of EPU under different market conditions.

A Sustainable Innovation Strategy Oriented toward Complex Product Servitization

Enterprises performing complex product servitization are more vulnerable to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic because of their large number of suppliers and wide coverage, among other things. The present research focuses on how to promote the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization. We investigate complex products and sustainable innovation-factors influencing the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization-based on the characteristics of product servitization and by combining the definitions of product servitization. We find that inadequate innovation ability and poor technical research and development (R&D) competence are the primary concerns in the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization. Specific to innovation ability improvement, the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization must follow an innovation-driven development strategy, a hard power cultivation strategy, and a soft power cultivation strategy. In terms of technical R&D competence enhancement, technological innovation strategies, integrated outsourcing of technical R&D competence, and independent improvement of technical R&D competence must be implemented to facilitate the sustainable innovation of complex product servitization.

How the hotel industry attracts Generation Z employees: An application of social capital theory

Post pandemic, the hotel industry is facing a significant labor shortage. This study investigates how the hotel industry attracts the Gen Z workforce through CSR activities during COVID-19. The study develops a framework based on social capital theory. A total of 407 online surveys were collected, and PLS-SEM was performed to test the proposed model. Results indicate that the person-organization fit increases cognitive trust and affective trust, subsequently affecting hotels’ organizational attractiveness. COVID-related knowledge only moderates the relationship between cognitive trust and organizational attractiveness. Moreover, affective trust is weighed heavier by Gen Zs who were currently unemployed, while cognitive trust exerts more influence on those who were currently employed. The study findings provide valuable insights and meaningful implications for hotel managers to attract and retain Gen Z talents.

Analysis of COVID-19 Name Varieties in Chinese Mass and Social Media.

The sudden appearance of a new epidemic disease in China created the need for names identifying that disease. Between December 2019 and January 2020, a variety of severe pneumonia-related disease names suddenly appeared, and more name varieties kept coming up afterwards. To better understand the introduction and spread of these names, 16 different COVID-19-related name varieties were selected covering the period from the end of December 2019, when the epidemic started, to mid-March 2020, a moment at which the term competition had stabilized. By way of big data analysis, the initiation and distribution of the 16 names across the media landscape was traced with regard to the impact of different media platforms, while the distribution frequency of each of the selected terms was mapped, resulting in a distinction of three groups of disease names, each with a different media and time profile. The results were discussed based on the hypotheses of disease confusion by name variety and management failures in absence of clear language governance at the national and global levels. The analysis of the data led to a refutation of both hypotheses. Based on this discussion, the study offers empirically based suggestions for the WHO in their naming practices and further research.

Uncovering crowdsourcing in tourism apps: A grounded theory study

Even though crowdsourcing emerges as a new business principle of many successful tourism apps, its underlying mechanism in tourism remains unexplored. This research note explores this topic with a qualitative design through interviews with stakeholders involved in a crowdsourcing tourism app, Gold Medal Tour Guide. Applying the grounded theory, researchers propose a framework of crowdsourcing in tourism apps consisting of six themes and 15 subthemes. The framework identifies the drive of crowdsourcing and discusses the complexities and contradictions in multi-stakeholder collaboration. The contextual impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the crowdsourcing phenomenon are also examined. The findings provide practical implications for tourism destinations to take advantage of the crowdsourcing mechanism for sustainable operation and development.