COVID-19 pandemic disruptions to working lives: A multilevel examination of impacts across career stages.

Since early 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted societies worldwide. As we moved from expecting the closure of society to be a short-term one to experiencing it as a longer-term phenomenon, we lacked understanding about how the pandemic has affected the working lives and wellbeing of employees in different life and career stages. Drawing from lifespan development approaches and Job Demands-Resources (JD-R), we considered the effect this profound disruption had on stress, burnout, and job satisfaction across career stages over time. We took a multi-level approach to the analysis of three waves of data. Disruptions were a predictor of stress and negatively affected disengagement and job satisfaction over time. We found differences in the ways in which people in different career stages reacted to these disruptions and adjusted over time. Job autonomy positively influenced wellbeing over time, however perceived organizational support contributed to growth in burnout disengagement and exhaustion and lower job satisfaction over time. We discuss the implications of our findings for workplaces managing in the aftermath of external shocks going forward.

Zoonotic disease awareness survey of backyard poultry and swine owners in southcentral Pennsylvania.

Owners of small backyard poultry and swine operations may be at higher risk of zoonotic diseases due to husbandry inexperience and/or a lack of knowledge. Backyard poultry and swine owners in southcentral Pennsylvania were surveyed regarding their knowledge and attitudes towards zoonotic disease prevention. One hundred and six backyard poultry and/or swine owners completed the survey (74 poultry, 15 swine, 17 both), which included questions on demographics, flock/herd characteristics, recognition of selected zoonotic diseases and clinical signs in animals, and biosecurity practices for visitors and owners. Most responded that they were aware of avian (92.2%) and swine (84.4%) influenza, and were less aware of other zoonotic diseases such as salmonellosis and brucellosis. The majority of backyard poultry and swine owners combined (62.9%) reported allowing visitors freely around their animals and did not require any special precautions. Backyard poultry and swine owners most commonly reported rarely (32.7%) or never (28.9%) wearing work gloves and never (57.1%) wearing nose/mouth coverings, such as a respirator mask, while handling animals or manure. The study findings indicated that veterinarians (61.5%) and the Internet (50.0%) are the main sources where small-scale farm producers seek animal disease information. Approximately one-third (34.9%) of the respondents reported receiving seasonal influenza vaccine. The findings of this study will be utilized to provide targeted veterinary and public health education for the prevention of zoonotic diseases in backyard farm animal settings in Pennsylvania.

Pawing by standardbred racehorses: frequency and patterns.

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of pawing behavior in a population of Standardbred racehorses and the relationship of pawing frequency to time of day. Standardbreds (n=41) were observed using instantaneous scan sampling twice daily, in the morning before training and in the afternoon after training. A majority of the horses, twenty-four (58.5%) of the 41 horses showed pawing behavior at least once (median=7, interquartile range=2-15). After training, there were a median of 4 (interquartile range 1-11) observations of pawing or 11.2% of total observations. In the morning, before training, there were 3 (0-3.25) pawing observations, or 9.1% of total observations. There was a significantly greater frequency of pawing in the afternoon (P=0.0005). They pawed less on Sunday afternoons when they had not trained. Pawing may be related to exercise and, possibly, discomfort.