Increased nationwide use of green spaces in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent years, there has been growing concern about the decline in human green space use and nature-based recreation in Western countries. While some evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased recreational mobility in urban green spaces, it is unclear whether the pandemic led to nationwide changes in green space use in both densely and less densely populated neighborhoods, as well as whether social inequalities in green space use were reinforced or attenuated by the pandemic. To address these questions, we used daily nationwide aggregated mobility data from more than 2 million cell phone subscribers in 14,331 geographical grids across Norway to examine potential changes in mobility in green spaces as measured by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during the pandemic. Additionally, we controlled for weather conditions, holiday periods, and neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics. The results from linear mixed model analyses showed a 9.4% increase in recreational visits in the greenest spaces during the pandemic. Notably, this increase was most prominent in neighborhoods of low socioeconomic status (SES) and was observed in both high- and low-population density neighborhoods, although the increase was somewhat stronger in neighborhoods with low population density. Our study findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in increasing nationwide green space use in Norway and potentially narrowing the gap of green inequalities, thus highlighting the importance of preserving and promoting green spaces as a public health resource, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Developmental changes in the structure of shyness and internalizing symptoms from early to middle childhood: A network analysis.

Shyness is a temperamental trait that shares considerable conceptual overlap with aspects of internalizing problems, creating difficulties in operationalizing and assessing these two constructs and their association. This study addresses these issues by employing network analyses. Participants were, white, N = 555 children (Mage  = 52.45 months, SD = 15.96, 55% girls) followed longitudinally over 4 years (2016-2010) in Norway. Teachers rated child shyness and assessed children's internalizing symptoms. Results suggest that two behavioral shyness traits were the most central aspects of shyness. The centrality of these aspects was robust across age. The most influential symptom connecting internalizing symptoms with shyness was "unhappy." Shyness became more differentiated with development, and associations between anxiety-related symptoms and shyness increased as children entered formal schooling.

Worries About COVID-19 and Adolescents' Mental Health and Life Satisfaction: The Role of Sociodemographics and Social Support.

Worries related to the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with mental health problems and reduced life satisfaction. However, the association between different types of worries about COVID-19 and adolescent mental health is unclear. Moreover, there is a lack of information about whether certain groups of adolescents are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of worries and how social support may moderate these effects. Adolescents (N = 12,686) completed a survey during the lockdown in spring 2020 in Oslo, Norway (37% response rate, 56.4% girls). The results showed that adolescent worries could be categorized into worries related to infection and those related to the general negative effects of the pandemic. Multivariate regression analyses showed that both types of worries were negatively related to positive affect and life satisfaction and positively related to depressive symptoms. Interaction analyses indicated that some associations with positive affect and depressive symptoms were stronger among adolescents with non-migrant backgrounds, higher family SES, and high reported levels of social support and physical contact during the pandemic. The findings suggest that COVID-19 worries may have negative effects on mental health and inform strategies to increase tailored psychological interventions to mitigate the effect of worry on adolescents' mental health and life satisfaction.

Posttraumatic growth during the COVID-19 lockdown: A large-scale population-based study among Norwegian adolescents.

The negative consequences of the COVID-19 lockdown during the spring of 2020 have been documented. However, adolescents may also have experienced positive personal and interrelational changes. This was the first study to examine the prevalence of posttraumatic growth (PTG) during the lockdown. We additionally explored how potential risk and protective factors, as well as experiences with the pandemic, were related to PTG and whether these associations were moderated by mental health resources and social support. We used data from a representative survey of 12,686 junior and senior high school students from Oslo, Norway, conducted during the lockdown (37% response rate, 56.4% girls). A short version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory was used to assess growth relative to personal strength, relationships with others, and appreciation of life. Several potential predictors in the domains of mental health, social relationships, experiences during the pandemic, and sociodemographic background factors were examined. Results from multiple regression analyses showed that satisfaction with life, parental care, worries about the pandemic, and immigrant status were the most prominent predictors of PTG, ßs = .14-.22, p < .001. Moderation analyses indicated a complex interplay between predictors of PTG by showing that good mental health was associated with higher degrees of PTG only in groups typically considered to be at higher risk of adverse outcomes. The findings provide information regarding who would profit from additional help to reinterpret the dramatic events during the lockdown to facilitate growth.

Adolescents' psychosocial well-being one year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically restricted adolescents' lives. We used nationwide Norwegian survey data from 2014-2021 (N = 227,258; ages 13-18) to examine psychosocial outcomes in adolescents before and during the pandemic. Multilevel models revealed higher depressive symptoms and less optimistic future life expectations during the pandemic, even when accounting for the measures' time trends. Moreover, alcohol and cannabis use decreased, and screen time increased. However, the effect sizes of all observed changes during the pandemic were small. Overall, conduct problems and satisfaction with social relationships remained stable. Girls, younger adolescents and adolescents from low socio-economic backgrounds showed more adverse changes during the pandemic. Estimated changes in psychosocial outcomes varied little with municipality infection rates and restrictions. These findings can inform means and interventions to reduce negative psychological outcomes associated with the pandemic and identify groups that need particular attention during and after the pandemic.

Adolescents' assessments of consequences of the pandemic after one year of COVID-19 restrictions. / Ungdoms opplevelser av konsekvenser av pandemien etter ett år med covid-19-restriksjoner.

BACKGROUND: We have obtained knowledge of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the lives of adolescents immediately after the pandemic arrived in Norway. However, we know little about adolescents' experiences from the pandemic over time, and whether sociodemographic factors and infection rates at the municipality level play a role. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We used questionnaire data from 106 448 lower and upper secondary school pupils who took part in the Ungdata survey in 167 municipalities in the spring of 2021 (response rate 76 %). The adolescents' responses regarding their experiences during the pandemic were collated with statistics on infection rates at the municipality level. We performed a Chi-square test and multilevel analyses to investigate predictors of adolescents' experiences. RESULTS: A total of 49 % responded that the COVID-19 pandemic affected their lives in a partly or very negative direction. Many reported negative changes in peer relationships, family relationships and mental health, but some also reported positive changes. Girls, older adolescents, those with a low socioeconomic background and those living in municipalities with a higher prevalence of infection reported more negative consequences. INTERPRETATION: Most adolescents reported that the pandemic has had more negative than positive consequences. Girls, older adolescents, those with a low socioeconomic background and those living in municipalities with a higher rate of infection may be especially affected by the negative effects of the pandemic.

Are unpopular children more likely to get sick? Longitudinal links between popularity and infectious diseases in early childhood.

Social stress and inflammatory processes are strong regulators of one another. Considerable evidence shows that social threats trigger inflammatory responses that increase infection susceptibility in both humans and animals, while infectious disease triggers inflammation that in turn regulates social behaviours. However, no previous study has examined whether young children's popularity and their rate of infectious disease are associated. We investigated the longitudinal bidirectional links between children's popularity status as perceived by peers, and parent reports of a variety of infectious diseases that are common in early childhood (i.e. common cold as well as eye, ear, throat, lung and gastric infections). We used data from the 'Matter of the First Friendship Study' (MOFF), a longitudinal prospective multi-informant study, following 579 Norwegian pre-schoolers (292 girls, median age at baseline = six years) with annual assessments over a period of three years. Social network analysis was used to estimate each child's level of popularity. Cross-lagged autoregressive analyses revealed negative dose-response relations between children's popularity scores and subsequent infection (b = -0.18, CI = -0.29, -0.06, and b = -0.13, CI = -0.23, -0.03). In conclusion, the results suggest that children who are unpopular in early childhood are at increased risk of contracting infection the following year.